Tales Of Youth!
by Fams
Summary: Konoha 12 co's children have their own stories, their own events that unfold in their childhood! From training in their new genin teams, to *sigh* boring family meet ups, it's all in Tales of Youth. It's self-explanatory, simply, tales from the children of the leaf village. Canon material based off chapter 700 (ending at that arc). All linking oneshots- enjoy x
1. Chapter 1 - Academy Day

_** CHAPTER ONE**_

**Hey! I welcome you to by first ever post-naruto (actually, my first ever Naruto fanfic posted in general)**

**This is based of some canon material not entirely (Chapter 700 mainly) and also continues maybe past the manga**

**It's basically a series OF one shots or small bits of stuff (whatever you prefer) of tales of the children**

**From the Konoha 12 and stuff. May continue further (it's not really a story but each bit**

**relates to another in a story style i guess) I don't really know how to explain it, but enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT AFFLICTED WITH NARUTO OR OWN ANY THING ALL RIGHTS TO KISIMOTO!**

* * *

"This is such a drag..." commented Shikadai, slumping inwardly onto the desk in front of him, wishing he was at home, lying down or something else that didn't require much effort. "All this work...ugh!"

"Shikadai, if you want to be a good shinobi, then you'll have to work, it's the only way forward!" exclaimed Inojin, sticking loyally to his usually obedient manner. Shikadai rolled his dark eyes, looking away from the polite child he was destined to grow up with. What an awful drag...

"Well, I have to admit it is pretty hard to go for long with out food," nodded Chōchō, the only girl in the formation, pushing Inojin out of the way, rather inconsiderably with a beam. "Here, do you want some crisps?"

"No thanks..." Shikadai mumbled in reply, shifting over a bit, until he could see clearly out of the window. "Man, I wish I hadn't come so early, but mum make me..."

"Your mother's awesome!" declared Chōchō with a flashy grin. "But, not as good as food!"

"I have to admit she had some pretty decent abilities," agreed Inojin, for once. "However, she's not as good as mine, or my dad."

"NO ONE'S AS GOOD AS MY DAD!" yelled an extremely loud voice as it burst through the doors of the academy classroom. Boruto Uzumaki, in his chuckling entirety had arrived, and he had certainly made himself known to everyone in at least a five mile radius.

"He's the Hokage, right?"

Boruto glanced around, expecting many pairs of eyes to be gazing at him with pure admiration and love. Despite the fact that everyone was now looking at him, it wasn't for the reason that he had originally desired, they were all staring at him like he was crazy. Well, that wasn't exactly a lie in the minds of many who were close to him.

"Boruto, keep it down!" hissed the girl who sat in front of him. She had straight black hair and narrow eyes, and her mouth was pursed in an irritated expression. "I'm trying to get some study in!"

"Sarada, you're so boring," he told her, glancing over her shoulder in such a way it actually made her slightly freaked out.

"Yeah well, you're so annoying!" she retaliated, trying her best to push him out of his way. "Movie it, Boruto!"

"Geez, call me Bolt! Everyone else does!" he insisted, sitting back in his seat with pout. "I'm bored..."

"Me too," said none other then Shikadai. Almost all the students had gathered now, most speaking quietly to one another in their allocated spots. Eventually, footsteps could be heard clacking gently outside, getting louder and louder as their teacher approached. Sarada and multiple others started shushing people, desperate to look favourable in the teachers eyes. Bolt seemed unusually quiet as well, but that was all for one reason.

The door opened, as the teacher walked through. Bolt has his fingers, crossed, preparing to laugh out loud. Bang! A chalk board duster crashed onto the academy teachers head, causing a sharp yell to come from underneath the dust. Bolt didn't have to wait for everyone to start laughing, they were already beside themselves; Bolt's tricks were by far the best, even when Boruto himself could be irritating.

"BORUTO UZUMAAAAAAAKIIIII!"

Not a good start to the lesson...

* * *

After an eventful day at the academy, the students were off on their own activities, most of them returning home to eat, some staying behind to train, and others going off with their friends to play. Bolt and his gaggle of crazy friends, including Shikadai, Chōchō and a rather unenthusiastic, Inojin.

"Guess what I'm gonna do!" shouted Bolt, his wavy blonde hair bouncing; his turquoise eyes gleaming mischievously.

"Nothing good," muttered Inojin, rolling his green eyes, however no one heard him over Bolt's loud shouts. "Look, guys, I don't want to get in trouble with my mum or dad! Shikadai, your mum's pretty strict too, isn't she?"

Shikadai nodded, though he looked no different than what from he looked several minutes ago. Sighing, he stepped away from the small crowd, nearing Inojin with a grunt.

"You're right; and my oh so important uncles are here today," he admitted. "It's a drag, but I've got to go and greet them."

"What about you, Chōchō, are you going back with us?" asked Inojin, who liked to stick together in the Ino-Shika-Chō formation just in case of attacks, like his mother had told him to, even if they hadn't even trained that way yet.

"Nah," she replied, but joined them anyway. "I'm gonna go get food with Anko-sensei!"

and with that, she strolled across the road and towards the nearest restaurant.

"Typical..." sighed Inojin, tossing his blonde hair as he shook his head in disbelief.

"Let's go, this is getting a bit of a drag," yawned Shikadai, and the two of them started walking back to their own houses, which were fairly close by to each other's, whilst Bolt, unaware of the departure of the three, carried on plotting his next prank with the few friends left who were clustered around him.

"You should prank the hokage!" suggested one, with approving nods from several others. "After all, he is your dad, you could always show him up in front of the important people!"

"Yeah, that sounds good," admitted Bolt, however he looked a little skeptical. "But maybe something a bit more...well, less direct or something, maybe?"

His gang of scheming buddies stopped to think or all possible pranks he could do on the hokage; Bolt was enjoying this attention very much. He did love getting all the attention, since he was sure his mother favoured his sister, and his father, being the seventh hokage was always busy, too busy for him most of the time.

As they were discussing, in a small section of the road, Sarada walked past, unaware that they were there. As soon as the sharp girl had spotted them, she could tell just by their facial expressions and yelps of glee that they were up to something. I best not get involved, she thought sensibly to herself, or I might get in trouble too. Unfortunately, just before she was about to turn away, Bolt had spotted her, and had a big grin on his tanned face.

"Sarada!" he called her, but she played deaf and hurried past them. "You're smart, aren't you? Come and help us scheme for a prank against the Hokage!"

"I'll do no such thing!" she barked in anger. "How disrespectful, Boruto, especially since he's your father!"

"How disrespectful," mimicked Bolt, with a jeering tone. "Ooh, posh words!"

This was followed by a chorus of teasing laughter from the boys, who found it very comical when Bolt did his impression of Sarada when she was angry. Sarada, on the other hand, got frustrated, and more over, humiliated.

"Be quiet!" she shouted, which was returned with a squeaky, 'Be !". "Go Away from me Bolt!"

Bolt tried to stop her but she rushed away, with some what astonishing speed, her eyes stinging with tears, and her heart thumping fast.

"She's such a snob," remarked one of his friends. "A real loser!"

"Yeah..." Bolt agreed, with a confident grin, but inside he felt sorry for the upset girl and a little guilty for making her feel bad. His mother had taught him not to be unkind, especially to people who were close to family, even if he did dislike him, and his mother never had arguments with anyone, not even his father as she was so sweet and peaceful.

"So, any idea's, Bolt?" he asked, with a sideways glance. "You must of thought of something, before the Kage meeting you painted on the Hokages' faces didn't you!"

"Yup!" replied Bolt, leaping up and down with excitement. "I've got a PERFECT idea, guys, let's go!"

* * *

"This is your house, right, Inojin?" questioned Shikadai with raised eyebrows. He remembered it vaguely from family visits with his father.

"Yes. I'll see you tomorrow, good luck with the meeting with the Kazekage!" Inojin, smile slightly, slipping through the doors of his family home. "Mum? Are you home?"

Inojin looked around the reception room, taking of his shoes breifly before looking around to investigate. After a little while he found Ino, his striking mother, in the kitchen, packing a bag of some sort. As she looked up, she saw the confusion on her pale sons face, and immediately put the bag down and went over to greet him.

"Hiya Inojin," she smiled broadly. "Did you have a good day at the academy?"

"Nothing special," he said, brushing her question off. "What are you doing, mum?"

Ino sighed as she picked up the bag again, walking out into the corridor, aware that her son was behind her.

"I've got an important mission to do with your Father and some other squad members," she told him, feeling a little sorry for him. "I'm afraid you'll have to stay with the Uzumaki's for a while."

"WHAT!" Inojin shouted out loud. "But mum, can't I stay with Shikadai or um, well, even Chōchō?"

"You know for yourself that Gaara, the Kazekage is staying with the Nara family at the moment. And Chōchō's parents are coming on the mission with us too!" she explained, refusing to listen to his pleas.

"Can't he stay with Sakura?" suggested Sai, appearing from the doorway with a frown. "That might be easier for Hinata, since she's already got the little one to look after, as well as Boruto."

"Sai..." Ino sighed, looking from her husband to her son. They were more alike then she cared to admit! "Alright then. Go pack your stuff and I'll take you."

"Don't worry about that, I already packed your stuff, Inojin." Sai butted in, with the best smile he could muster. "And i'll take him Ino, if that makes things easier for you?"

"Aw, thanks," Ino smiled, giving each of them a kiss on the cheek. "Now, behave. OR THERE WILL BE TROUBLE!"

"Yes mum!" Inojin squeaked, terrified at her scary tone. With one glance at his father, he could tell he was slightly scared as well, but he was good to cover it up.

"Now, GO!"

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed it! _Follow, Fave and Review if you enjoyed._**

**Next time: Shikadai has a eventful time at home. Bolt stirs up trouble, and Inojin stays at Sakura's!**


	2. Chapter 2 - Shikadai, Drag

**Thank you for all the positive feedback i've received concerning the first chapter! The amount of follows/faves I got in the first few hours of the story going live was more then i've ever had before; usually it takes at least a few days for it to get a bunch of worthwhile follows, but thanks to you guys, i'm there already! It makes me enjoy writing a lot more, knowing that someone on the other side will be waiting to read it.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Mother, I'm home..." muttered Shikadai as he entered his family home, too lazy to bother taking his shoes and jacket home. He assessed the situation that lay before him. If he were quiet enough, he could sneak to his room and not bother talking to his two very important (and boring) uncles, but that would take concentration, and focusing was troublesome. Or he could greet them, and maybe his mother would let him go outside and watch the clouds or something like that. But the most probably outcome would be him having to sit with them and listen to them for hours - how dull.

"Shikadai!" his mother called him from the kitchen. Great, Shikadai complained to himself. "Come over here!"

"Yeah, I heard you mum!" he shouted back, walking slowly to the large, open plan room. "Huh..."

Neither Kankurō or the all-important Gaara were sat at the table, instead, his mother was in the kitchen preparing a meal of some sort. She looked up and smiled at her young son, her eyes reflecting his in the same, strong flick.

"Oh, right. Gaara and Kankurō have gone for a meeting with the Hokage, Shikamaru's there as well," Temari explained, as she saw Shikadai's questioning look.

"Great!" he replied, not trying to sound too relieved. "Are you making a meal for tonight, then?"

"Yeah, Gaara's favorite."

"Why don't you make father's favorite? He's always complaining that you never make it for him!" Shikadai asked curiously, since whenever he saw his father (which was rare as he was constantly with the Hokage, as his personal advisor) he would always moan about it. Shikadai expected his mother to get irritated, as she often did when asked too may questions. Temari wasn't really the open type.

"Well..." she began, smiling a small, secret smile to herself. "I can't give him everything he wants! I give him enough already!"

Shikadai rolled his eyes as she chuckled to herself quietly. Grown ups seem so weird, especially woman in particular, like his mother, and Chōchō. He had also heard that Inojin's mother, Ino, was scary in a monstrous manner! At least Temari wasn't too harsh on him, but it was a different story when she was telling Shikamaru off.

"Can I go for a walk?" he changed the subject, his hands in his pockets carelessly. "I haven't been outside at all today."

"Sure. Um, Shika?"

"What is is mum, and don't call me that, I'm not taking baby names' from you anymore."

"Would you mind taking these flowers to Asuma's grave on the way back? Your father asked me to do it since he's been busy all day, but I had a short mission this morning and I spent all this time preparing for Kankurō and the Kazekage." She asked him, handing him a pretty spring of flowers, each one different to the next. The large, colourful bouquet wrapping read 'Yamanaka Blooms'.

"Sure..."

* * *

"Okay, okay so I was messing around with Konahameru the other day, convincing him to teach me Dad's famous 'Sexy Jutsu', and he said yes, as long as I didn't tell anyone!" explained Bolt, with a giggle.

"He was stupid to trust you!" laughed one of his friends, thinking about how serious Konahameru could be. "But I wouldn't think he would of taught you that!"

"Well he didn't openly tell me," Bolt reasoned, remembering the time. "I might of spiked his drink a little bit with a drowsy pill I found in the medical storage!"

"Oh my gosh!" piped up one of the boys, with a grin. "How did you sneak in so easily?"

"Well, it helps with me being the Hokage's son, doesn't it!" chuckled Bolt in return, flexing his fingers.

"So what's the plan?"

"Alright. So the jutsu is a little like the transformation techniques, and we all learnt that last week, right?" he told them, looking knowledgeable.

"Yes!"

"Now instead transform into a female version of yourself," he said, gesturing for everyone to do the hand sign. "Sexy Jutsu!"

Now where Bolt had once been standing, stood a tall young lady, with exaggerated features and not a single scrap of clothing on her well toned body. The several boys around him gaped their mouths open in shock, some disgusted, some in awe, and some a little freaked out.

"Okay," he said, transforming back with a little stutter. "Your turn!"

After a while of practicing, each one of them - there were about four others, had developed their own version of the sexy jutsu, each depending on their appearance. Some weren't entirely confident about it, but if they had doubts, they certainly didn't mention it in front of Bolt.

"That's great guys, but-"

"Bolt-kun, Mama sent me to bring you home!" piped up the voice of a little girl behind him. She was smaller then Bolt, with indigo hair, just like her mothers, and distinctive whisker marks down each each, resembling her father, and of course, her brother.

"Aww Himmie!" Bolt complained, using his pet name for his younger sister. "Not even five more minutes?"

"Nah huh!" he replied stubbornly, crossing her arms. "Mum says you have to come now!"

"I guess this will have to wait, guys," he turned to his friends, apologizing. "It must be some very important Hokage business, so sorry!"

"C'mon brother!" insisted Himawari, tugging at his black sleeve. "I'm starving!"

"Me too, come to mention food!" laughed Bolt, feeling his own stomach rumble with lack of food. "Bye everyone!"

As he walked with his sister, the group of his friends slowly disbanded and everyone headed home, excited for tomorrows event. It would be the first time anyone of them had pranked the Hokage, even if they weren't the main point. Only Bolt had the nerve to do that to him!

"Bolt-kun, I went to Uncle's grave again today," Himawari told him, her eyes sparkly cutely.

"You're always going there with mum," frowned Bolt, letting his sister hold his hand. "It doesn't change; what's the point on keeping on going?"

"It's very peaceful, and I always bring sunflowers," she beamed, looking up at the sky. "I know Uncle Neji is always watching me and is very happy."

"Oh really..."

"You know, you should come some day too!" Himawari suggested brightly. "I asked mum."

"Well I am very busy with ninja stuff," Bolt dismissed her sweet words with one glance. "I'm going to be the next Hokage after dad, you know."

"Of course!" smiled Himawari eagerly. "But even Hokage's have to be respectful..."

"Alright, Himmie, I'll come next week okay?" he remarked, getting a sweet smile in return.

"Promise?"

"Promise!"

"Boruto! Himawari! Dinner's ready!" called Hinata's soft voice from their near by house. "Bolt, you don't want to miss it, it's your favorite!"

"Ramen?" commented Bolt skeptically. "But they only make them in restaurants?!"

"Mum can make ramen alright, it's really tasty!" Himawari praised her mother, who blushed a pale pink.

"Come on in, children, before it get's cold!"

* * *

Shikadai was sat beside the grave stone, entitled 'Asuma Sarutobi' on the damp, jade green grass. He'd been there a while now, long enough for the meeting to have ended, anyway. He should get going sooner or later, or he'd have trouble from his mother. However, it seemed so serene where he was sat; the gentle late afternoon breeze blowing over the grass, and the blue sky fading slightly red. The clouds were cotton balls in the sky, soaking up the atmosphere of remembrance. Not that he had ever met Asuma, but his father had spoken great things about him and his honorable death, worthy of a shinobi.

"Hey kiddo,"

Shikadai turned around, only to see the the familiar figure of his father looming over him. He wasn't angry, and he wasn't looking too happy either. Shikadai was safe, at least.

"Hi dad, how did you find me?"

"I had a feeling i'd find you here, since I gave those flowers to Temari..." he explained, looking at the grave stone intently. One thing Shikadai could never figure out is why his parents called each other their own names in front of him, which was unlike some people like Inojin's parents, who referred to each other as 'your father' or 'your mother', not by fore names.

"She couldn't deliver them, so I came instead." he told his father. "Are they from Ino's shop?"

"Yes," Shikamaru nodded, surprised at his son's sharp eyes. Maybe he was going to turn out like him, even if it was just noticing a small logo that most people would dismiss at first thought. "I'm glad...Asuma-sensei would be glad, you know."

The two stood there in silence for a while, each lost in their own apparent thoughts, letting the time tick by, until eventually Shikamaru sighed and turned away.

"Hurry, Shikadai, the Kazekage and Lord Kankurō are staying with us tonight. Temari will kill me if we're late!" he said to his son as he began walking.

"Seriously?!" remarked Shikadai, a little taken a back. "I knew mum was harsh, but geez, to kill your own husband?"

"I was joking!" laughed Shikamaru to himself, with a smirk. "Though she'd be capable of that, that's for sure."

"What do you mean? Ugh, adults are so vague and unexplainitory - especially mum; i'm sick of it!" Shikadai exclaimed, frustratedly.

"I used to think that too, when I was your age. You know, I wasn't that much older, a few years older at the most, when I met Temari! She was the second most scariest and weirdest thing - next to my own mother, of course." reflected Shikamaru, a wide smile playing on his lips.

"Dad?" Shikadai asked, rushing up behind him as they were beginning to pick up the pace.

"What's up?"

"How did you and mum meet?"

"That's a story for another time, son. Now our primary objective is to get home before Temari unleashes her fan!" he chuckled to himself.

"What's so funny dad?"

"Shikadai, you're being a bit of a drag with all these questions. Just be quiet until we get home; it'll be less troublesome for me," his dad replied sternly.

"Fine then..."

* * *

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	3. Chapter 3 - Sarada unsure

**I'M GLAD YOU GUYS LIKE THIS ;3 Onwards and outwards, I guess...?**

* * *

Sarada stared at herself in the mirror, her reflection glaring back at her with sharp younger girl did not at all consider herself pretty; she had dull black hair, and had to wear red rimmed glasses - though her eyesight was perfectly fine, she had had them since an incident that no one had told her about when she was younger. But she liked them some how, as they made her look more intellectual in a way.

Still, she wasn't pretty, she thought, no where near as pretty as some one like her own mother, or Inojin's mother, Ino. However, she told herself not to value herself by just her looks, but her ability and skill. Yet it was so difficult seeing other girls in her class getting attention just because they were pretty. Most of the time, they were pretty but dim.

Sakura stood in front of her daughters room door, in her hand a small plate with some sweet dumplings she had made for her. After all, Sarada did have a sweet tooth, though she was never at all greedy. As she knocked, Sarada quickly looked away from the door, and politely opened the door for her mother with a small smile.

"Are you alright, Sarada-chan? I made you some dumplings!" Sakura greeted her daughter with a motherly smile, handing the plate over.

"Thanks, mum."

"Sarada, are you feeling okay? You do look a little pale..." Sakura mentioned worriedly, putting a hand over her daughters forehead. "As I expected, you've got a high temperature."

"Oh.."

"I'm out of headache medicine," Sakura frowned, sighing as she stood up. "Rats. I'm going to have to borrow some from the hospital!"

"But mum," Sarada protested, looking a little glum. "Can't you just use your medical jutsu?"

"Absolutely not!" Sakura shouted, a little harshly. "Not everyone has the power to do that whenever they want!"

"You do, though, right?"

"Yes but that is beside the point. I'm saying that you should start from the bottom where you have no power, like I did, and work the way up until you can do it yourself. Now, why don't you put a little effort in and go get it from the hospital?" Sakura explained, fairly yet firmly.

"Alright mum..." Sarada agreed, eating the last dumpling. "But I just want to ask you something!"

"Hmm?"

"Mum...Your really pretty, father must be really lucky you know," she told her, fidgeting with her fingers. Sakura flinched at the mention of her husband. Sakura loved her cosy little family, but often wished that Sasuke would spend a little more time with them, though she did know that he loved them very much.

"What are you trying to say?" Sakura replied, blushing slightly.

"Do you," she hesitated slightly. "I know I don't ask you many things like this, but do you think I'm pretty?"

Sakura sighed, giving her daughter a hug and trying not to relate too much. At her age, she decided to grow her hair long, just to get Sasuke to notice her. Was she going through the same thing?

"Sarada...your not even a genin yet, you need to focus on that before thinking about boys." her mother whispered in her ear, making Sarada spring away instantly in disgust.

"BOYS?" She squeaked. "Do you think I'm trying to get a boy to LIKE me? Muuuum, I'm not even ten yet!"

"Whatever!" Sakura dismissed with a chuckle. "Soon you'll be ten. Double digits!"

"Uggghhh!"

"Look. Your beautiful, In fact you look just like your father, actually, you remind me of him a lot." she smiled, looking at her creased forehead, yet she wasn't showing her frustration too much. Just like him really, closed about feelings. It took a while for Sakura to get him to open up, but when he did, their relationship was no longer one sided.

"I do?"

"You're brave, strong and clever. Your sharp and attentive, and you understand others feelings, which is a trait more from my side really. And more over, you have a special power..." Sakura told her, looking proud.

"I do?"

"Yes," Sakura nodded, her smile fading slightly. "If I only knew how to control it myself...Sasuke...oh, Sasuke..."

"Mum?" Sarada called; her mother was slowly walking out of the room, muttering to herself about 'Sasuke' and some sort of 'Kekkai Genkai'. Weird. Nonetheless, Sarada followed her downstairs, ready to head to the hospital to soothe her throbbing head.

* * *

Inojin followed his father down the bustling pathways that lead to the Uchiha's house hold, glancing around and giving small smiles at people who greeted him in the street. He wasn't a huge talker, like some one like Bolt, but he would speak when spoken to, with meek manners of looked at his son every now and then, wondering how his past self would feel about his future. Shaking his head violently, he turned towards his son with a small smile, which mirrored his own.

"Listen, Inojin, you have to be on your best behaviour...not that you ever aren't. I feel like sometimes your mother gives you a hard time," he told him with a knowing look. Inojin nodded, but said nothing to dishonour his mother, although he very much agreed with Sai's words. "We'll be, um, at lease two days, three at the least. You're to go to the academy every day and then train anytime that we aren't back. After all the graduation exams are not even two weeks away!"

"You're right," Inojin agreed, as they turned a sharp corner. "I want to be the best!"

"You've already got extremely high grades, so don't worry to much," his father reassured him with a kind look. "In my experienced eyes, you've already passed."

"Thanks."

Sai knocked roughly on the door, which had a bright Uchiha clan emblem painted onto it, neat, round and powerful looking. It wasn't long before Sakura opened the door, looking a little flushed from running back from the top of the house. Her straight pink hair fell around her face perfectly, making her look extremely beautiful, in Inojin's eyes anyway.

"Oh Sai," she exclaimed. "Come on in, I presume you've come instead of Ino to drop your son off?"

"Yeah, I offered to step in for the boar," Sai replied, the smile not coming of his face. Inojin looked at his father in horror, he had heard him say crude things about Ino before, but never in that fashion.

"Daaad!"

"What Inojin? That's what her name means right?" he joked, amused to see his son embarrassed. "Anyway, we'll be back from the mission in a few days, but Inojin will know when we're back anyway."

"Alright. Come on in Inojin, I've got a room set up for you." Sakura greeted him, smiling a proper smile, unlike the ones his father would often pull.

"Thank you very much, Mrs Uchiha," he bowed slightly, scurrying in like a mouse, making Sakura feel strange. She still hadn't gotten used to being called 'Mrs Uchiha' yet by other people. "Bye dad!"

But Sai had already gone in a flash, worried that Ino would get mad if he turned up late; even by a few mere seconds, anything could annoy Ino. Inojin sighed, following Sakura up the nicely polished staircase and up into a pretty little room at the end of the upstairs corridor. Inside was a single bed, chest of draws, and a small table as well as a large wardrobe.

"It's getting pretty late; so i'll be making dinner soon, as soon as Sarada's back," Sakura mentioned, winning the boy's attention. "Is that okay?"

"Of course, Mrs Uchiha," he replied meekly. Sakura only wished her own daughter was so well mannered and not so obstinate, which was, though she hated to admit it, a trait of hers.

Leaving the room, she couldn't help remember her rivalry with Ino, and yet her was her son, in the flesh, with Sai as his father. If her past self could see them now, she would of laughed in disbelief.

Inojin was cute though, and although she loved her daughter more than anyone in the world - apart from a Sasuke, she had always longed for a son, a mini Sasuke. But she had learnt in life that she couldn't get everything she wanted, and if she wanted it, she had to work hard and more over, deserve it.

* * *

Bolt had it all sorted. A couple more days of sneaking around, discussing it with his mates, and the number three (after his own father, and self proclaimed Konahameru) hyper knuckle head ninja's super awesome sexy prank would be complete and in action. Bolt was practically buzzing as he hauled himself up in his room with paper and 'borrowed' crayons from his sister, doodling his plans and fantasises for the prank. He simply couldn't wait!

Hinata had settled her youngest a couple of hours ago, singing a sweet lullaby to soothe her asleep, as Himawari always begged her with puppy eyes to do so. Hinata herself didn't think much if her voice, but as long as she was happy, Hinata was even more so.

At bed time however, Bolt was a much different issue. Hinata would send him to bed, an hour or so after his sister, as he knew he was older, and abused this (and his mothers easily swayed, good nature) to stay up a little later. It would appear, when she turned the light off and kissed him goodnight that he was asleep, when actually a lot of the time, he was scheming, under the covers, very much awake.

Today, Naruto was visiting a nearby village to do peace talk overnight, so the young woman took the opportunity to go to bed a little earlier, as she had had a rather late night the night before. Creeping up the stairs, as to not wake her children, she noticed a glow, faint, yet still very much a glow of yellow light coming from Bolts room.

Shaking her head with a sigh, she opened the door and quietly walked in, expecting an angry cry from him in reply. However what she found, was her blonde boy fast a sleep, several brightly coloured crayons clenched in his warm palms, and a sheet of paper on his face, titled simply as;

BOLT&amp;co: S.A.S.P On N.U

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(Bolt and co Super Awesome Sexy Prank on Naruto Uzumaki!)

**SO sorry if this is a little short. I'm back at school this week so I'll be updating a little infrequently depending on how much time I have, but I hoped you enjoyed this nonethe less. Thanks so much for following, the amount I got in the first few days of uploading, was again insane. Love ya! Xoxox **


	4. Chapter 4 - Shadow Clone Jutsu

**Hello it's me again! With another little addition to the story. BTW I'm a staff member now of the AWESOME community, community/Naruto-The-New-Generation/117275/3/0/1/ (Naruto - The New Generation) which also had this and other stories post-chap700. Soooo yeah, follow that and you'll get a...feeling of doing good. And a bunch of super cool stories (how could I forget!) Thanks for the F.F.R'S each notification makes me so happy! Okay I'm done talking' byeeee.**

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Inojin opened his eyes wide, sitting up suddenly in his bed with a sigh. He had slept like a log all night again, as he found Sakura's home quite homey and comfortable. He didn't care much for Sarada, but didn't disregard her and always made sure he greeted her politely in the corridors if they were ever to pass. The day before, they had walked to the academy together, though not saying much. He knew how studious the girl seemed to be, and respected her highly for that, as he however was easily distracted in class, though polite, and spend his time doodling in the corner of his book if they ever did class work. Today was going to be more or less the same as yesterday, getting up, dressed, eating Sakura's pleasant cooking, leaving the house with Sarada, walking to the academy, etc. Except that day wasn't going to be normal, he felt it in the air.

In no more than half an hour, he was downstairs, waiting for Sakura to finish cooking breakfast, and for Sarada to come downstairs. He was sat at the corner of the table, drawing with ink that his father had given him onto a small notebook he used for doodling. It was almost full up. Sakura turned to him, a plate of fresh dumplings and milk in her steady hands. Leering over, she saw that he was in fact drawing a scene, where he was much older, a fully sledged shinobi, fighting against hundreds of evil enemy's, leaving them all dead or at least defeated in his wake. It oddly reminded her of Sai's picture book. Blushing, as he had spotted her looking, he folded the book away quickly, and accepted the food gratefully with a 'thank you' and a small smile. Sarada was down soon after, and then they were ready to head out, both with packed lunches also made by Sakura.

"Goodbye Sarada," she called to her daughter, who was already out of the door. Sighing, she turned to Inojin who was wavering slightly in the doorway. "Have a nice day, Inojin!"

He nodded, and walked out of the door, catching up with Sarada, who was walking quite swiftly.

"Shouldn't you of said bye to your mother at least?" he brought it up, quietly to the girl. "She's so kind to you!"

"It's none of your business!" she snapped in return. "I'm just waiting for my dad to come home, so she can be happy again, and not fussing about me so often!"

"Oh," mumbled Inojin, struggling to keep up with her pace. "Isn't your dad Sasuke Uchiha?"

He didn't get any response, so he glumly followed her, wondering if all girls were like that. The other ones in his class weren't too bad, but they were giggly and annoying, and Inojin often found himself putting them in their place, calling them 'Stupid Parrots' or something just as rude and downright. They only deserved it, in Inojin's mind. It would often end up in the girls crying, Inojin having no idea what he'd said to upset them, it was just the truth, and the teacher tutting and saying how much he was like his dad. Actually, Inojin thought he was like neither of his parents, apart from appearance and strength, obviously.

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"Okay class, today we're going to be..."

"Blah blah blah!" complained Bolt, bored stiff from sitting around all day. "This is sooooo boring!"

"Stop complaining!" shouted the weird boy in the bright green body suit. "My father says we're the next generation, the power of YOUTH!"

"You're such a drag. So are you bolt. Just deal with it, okay?" muttered Shikadai, putting his head on the desk. "I'm just as bored as you!"

"Boruto! Shikadai! We're going to be talking about the graduation exam for next week, it's important, you better listen or you'll have to stay another year at the academy!" he warned them sternly with a harsh glare. "You're just like you're fathers', both of you."

"Aburame-sensei..."

"Now, Sarada, tell the obnoxious boys what I just said please?" he continued.

"We will be completing a written test on the ninja rules and also on any problems we may face and how to counter them. Then, we will be practically assessed with Ninjustu, among other ninja fighting skills." she explained in monotone, as if she had rehearsed it from a book.

"Correct as always, Sarada. The system is a little different now, but you will need to pass the written exam and show that you have mastered your own jutsu, whether it be passed down from your clan of learnt off others, as well as a simple transformation jutsu and you must be able to make at least one clone." he finished off, catching Bolt's attention. A jutsu, eh? He'd have to get his dad to teach him that, as he was perfectly alright with clones, and could pull off a inconsistent, but decent transformation. What he lacked was a cool jutsu of his own, like Shikadai's shaky but cool shadow possession jutsu, or Chōchō's weird but effective expansion jutsu.

"Can I go early, sensei?" he piped up, puppy dog eyes gleaming brightly. "Please!"

"Absolutely not," he wrote him off straight away. "We've reserved the practice ground so we can do taijutsu practice today!"

"YESSSS!" yelled the boy in green triumphantly. "My area, y chance to shine!"

"Please," Bolt begged desperately. "I need to talk to my father about a new jutsu!"

"Don't you already have one ready for the exam next week?" Shino asked in disbelief.

"Nooo..."

Bolt could hear sniggers around the room, as well as glares and grin's echoing around the whole class room.

"Why not do the Sexy Jutsu?" questioned one of his mates cheekily with a laugh. "It'll be super effective on Aburame-sensei!"

Giggles from the boys involved with the Hokage prank popped up, making Bolt, if anything a little embarrassed. Even though he couldn't see behind his sensei's shady glasses, he had a strange feeling, like he knew what the Sexy Jutsu was. He shook his head; of course he didn't, only him, his mates, Konohameru and his father knew about that, right?

"Anyway, I'm off, see you later losers!" he called, winking to his mates. "Bye Aburame-sensei, you won't regret letting me off next week when I beat everyone on my test! See you!"

In a flash, he was gone like a bolt, flash of lightning. The class were left in shock, gaping at how smoothly he had slipped out of the room like that, no one else would even have the nerve.

"How does he get away with that," murmured Shikadai with heavy sigh. "Just 'cos he's the son of the Hokage!"

"Well, Shikadai, your father is the closest possible person to the Hokage, being his personal advisor. If the Hokage were to fall, he would almost definitely become Hokage after him, then you'd be his son. But would I treat you any differently?" their sensei asked, quite sarcastically. This class really got on his nerves.

"Whatever..."

"Anyway class, let's go. Bolt will have to make up for the time lost after the session, his own fault."

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"Team Konahameru," greeted the Hokage, as the three younger adults stood to his attention. "You've got an B rank mission patrolling the borders of the land of fire; there's been some questional activity there we want you to check out."

"It's not very challenging," added Shikamaru, handing out the summery sheet. "But we're really not getting that many missions these days..."

"I'm glad, if that makes the world more peaceful," commented Moegi happily, skimming over the contents of the sheet. "Right, Konahameru?"

"Yeah, and way more easy for me to control once I'm Hokage," he commented with a childish grin. "C'mon guys, let's go!"

"Right!" the other two replied in unison, before scattering out into the hall.

"I'm bored!" complained Naruto, putting his feet on the desk lazily. "I do like the peace, but there's nothing to do anymore!"

"I know exactly what you mean," agreed Shikamaru, looking out at the serene layout of the leaf village. "I'm just glad I'm not Hokage!"

"You were as close to getting the title as me," Naruto argued, swallowing his pride a little. "You're as good as a ninja as me!"

"Seriously?" laughed Shikamaru, but his voice sounded a little hollow. "There's no way I'd even deserve that..."

"Are you feeling okay?" asked Naruto, worried that his right hand man didn't look to fresh. "You seem a little down today."

"Well, recently, Temari and I-"

"YO!" yelled Bolt, bursting into the room, suddenly remembering he was disguised as Konohameru. He often transformed into him, as he felt he was the easiest person to sneak around as, for him and Naruto had a close bond.

"Konohameru? Back already, what is it?" asked Naruto, looking quite surprised.

"Well, I need you to help me with something, lord Hokage, it's-OWWW!"

Naruto punched him lightly, not enough to hurt him, but enough to distract him from failing the jutsu and falling onto the floor into a clumsy heap.

"Boruto, it's useless trying to trick me, nothing will work," he told him, a little frustratedly. "Get up and go back to class!"

"What?! But I need a new jutsu for the exam!" he explained, speaking rapidly. "I can't do it by myself you know!"

Naruto sighed, furrowing his brow, where as Shikamaru looked amused for some reason.

"Shikadai already knows how to do the Shadow Possession jutsu, and I have to say he's doing well. Temari has taught him a few tricks with the fan as well, but let's just say he's a little more like me," Shikamaru exclaimed, surprised that Naruto hadn't even taught his own son a just yet.

"Aww I know. Dad please?" he pleaded, practically getting on his knees and begging.

"Fine, then, but the concepts fairly simple." he gave in, rolling his eyes. "How about...Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

In a split second, three Naruto's were created side by side, arms folded and glancing at their son.

"That's silly, I can make clones!" he laughed at his father, making three illusion clones. "Done!"

"Oh really?" commented Shikamaru, raising an eyebrow skeptically. "Watch now."

Naruto shadow clone one threw a sharp kunai at the wall, narrowly avoiding his son's head. Bold expected the kunai to just disappear, but sure enough it was there stuck in the wall. The other two fort each other for several moments until they both disappeared in big puffs of smoke.

"Wow..." he said, a little awe inspired, mimicking the hand signs . "SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!"

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**I had to do research for this chapter just in case any of you were gonna be like ya n00b for anything in this chapter. Saying that, I hope you enjoyed, see you tomorrow, xooxoxox**


	5. Chapter 5 - Super Awesome

"Shadow clone jutsu?" remarked Shikadai with a snort. "What's that?"

"It's like a clone technique, except that the clones aren't just illusions, they are also solid with chakra flowing through them," explained Temari, sighing at her unenthusiastic son. "They are shadow clones, but water, sand and other clones can be made depending on the user really."

"Pfft, I'll show everyone my shadow possession jutsu and that'll throw them off," he smirked, leaving the room he had been having a conversation with his parents about Bolt's reasoning for getting out of class so easily, and complaining about why he couldn't skip taijutsu too. Shikamaru had told his son about Bolt wanting to learn a new jutsu, but that didn't stop him from still moaning about the whole thing.

"He's too like you," Temari sighed, folding her arms but smiling fondly. "Always worming your way out of things!"

"Hey!" Shikamaru shot his wife a pained look. "I'm not that bad now at least..."

"I guess so!" laughed Temari, hugging him from behind. "I'm so glad you enjoy work, but maybe consider taking some time off? After all, Shikadai is the next Ino-Shika-Chou generation, shouldn't you be helping the others train the formation?"

"It's a drag, but it's been passed down for years," he replied, rubbing his neck self-consciously. "I guess I'll have to speak to Naruto today..."

Meanwhile, Naruto himself was in his office, thinking to himself about how he could balance teaching the shadow clone jutsu to Bolt, with all his paper work and other stuff he had to do as Hokage. He'd need at least a couple of days to make time, but the graduation exams were nearing and he wasn't sure how quickly Bolt could catch on. His mediocre grades, in addition to his poor attitude reports he got monthly weren't really reassuring, but it reminded him dearly of his academy says, bottom of the class every time. Look where he was now, Hokage, leader of the leaf village! If he could do it, then Bolt could do it. Hopefully.

Yawning, he got up out of his seat. Unfortunately he had fallen asleep doing paper work, long after Shikamaru had left to eat with is family, and Gaara who was bound to leave the next day. He felt a little guilty for not telling Hinata, however he was sure his pretty, good natured wife wouldn't mind as he did try to spend as much time possible with her that he had spare. Naruto was about to open the door when a bunch of academy kids filtered through, carrying lots of books and paperwork, as it seemed.

"Huh? Kisoha, what are you doing in here?" he asked the tallest one whom he knew the parents of. "What's all this stuff?"

"Oh, forms and paperwork you have to fill in. Mainly just signing the reports, sir!" the boy replied brightly.

"Dang it, more paper work!" he cursed under his breath, letting the weariness show in his voice. "Could you guys leave the stuff on my desk? I'll be back in a second, I just gotta grab something to wake me up!"

"Of course sir!"

Naruto smiled at him and left his office, leaving the door open with a relaxed feeling. Sure the kids of the present were a difficult bunch, but they were all sweet really, and couldn't cause much harm to anyone. Just in case of the chance they might snoop around, Naruto had left a few obvious traps that ninja's could spot in an instant, but people like his son and his friends would slip up on. So he hadn't completely left it open to attack; he'd be back fairly quickly, five minutes at the most. Hopefully they'd put the papers down, take the chance to admire the room a little and leave back to their class.

But the kids had other ideas...

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"Good morning, Lord Hokage, you're up quite early!" greeted the pretty young girl at the caffe counter. "Would you like to order anything today?"

"Eeermmm something fresh to wake me up...aaaaand some fresh dumplings please!" he replied, forcing his eyes open with all his willpower. Now was decidedly not a good idea to fall asleep, in the middle of a cafe in front of people who regarded him as the greatest ninja of the present leaf.

"Coming right up sir, please take a seat!" smiled the waitress, going behind the counter to pass the order on, leaving Naruto to find refuge on a small table, though still resisting the will to sleep. He felt as if he was drifting away at that moment, but a sharp prod on the back brought him back to the awake world.

"Ack!" he squeaked as he turned around to see who it was. "Oh Shikamaru...what'dya want?"

"Someone didn't get much sleep last night," he commented with a grin, sitting down beside him. "You look a bit out of it if I'm honest..."

"You're right," frowned Naruto, sitting up properly as his food arrived. "What day is it today?"

"Saturday..."

"Saturday?"

"Saturday."

"Saturday?"

"Yeah. Saturday, Naruto!"

"Oh. I didn't know they held lessons on a Saturday..." he mumbled, remembering the academy students who they had seen with all that paper work. "I guess this generation is going to be hard working, as my old sensei said, Each generation will always pass the next!"

"Naruto, they don't have lessons on a Saturday," retorted Shikamaru matter of factly. "And not at this hour anyway. It's not even seven yet!"

"What...Saturday!" Naruto felt frustrated, like he was missing something...Those boy's weren't just dropping off paper work,were they? "Damn it! I need to get back to my office now! Those scoundrels! The must of tricked me, how oblivious am I, I thought I'd improved!"

"You've hardly had any sleep," sighed Shikamaru fairly as Naruto quickly downed his tea and ate the dumplings hastily. "You're the Hokage, you have to keep your energy!"

"I know, but the first thing I need to do is check on my office and do that paper work," he explained, taking his position seriously as always. "Check on all the missions, then I can consider taking a day off perhaps."

"Right."

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"Okay, get into positions now!" Ordered Bolt, appearing behind a large pile of books he had been hiding behind before his father had left, just in case. "Make sure your hidden well!"

"Right!"

"Then when he walks in, wait for my signal, and then Sexy jutsu!" He giggled, hearing a chorus of 'sures' and excited yelps from everyone. It was a far more organised plan then his usual petty, spontaneous pranks he played on his father, and this time he was going to get it good! He'd be embarrassed in front of his advisor, and one of the boys had a camera and was poised at the door to film his reaction.

Soon later, Bolt could hear the soft padding of feet against the floor of the corridor outside. Quickly, he shushed all the boys who were whispering around him, and shifted into a ready position to transform. His heart was beating rapidly;'the adrenaline rushed through his nerves like blood flowing down his veins.

"...oh, it looks like they are gone!" Commented Shikamaru as he opened the door for Naruto politely. "Huh."

"They were definitely up to something though," Naruto nodded, walking a bit further into the room. "The papers might be faked or spiked or something like that."

"Yeah," Shikamaru replied, but he could feel something in the air. A cough confirmed his suspicions instantly.

"Not high level ninja," Naruto murmured cautiously drawing out a single kunai, yet there was the edge of something playing on his lips, a smile perhaps, or maybe a grimace.

The cough echoed again, making a click of something come from the corner. A few whispers hissed across the room, bouncing off the walls, making Bolt sure that everyone was ready. He steadied himself, getting ready and remembering the jutsu quickly and quietly. Then...

"BOLT AND CO SUPER AWESOME SEXY JUTSU!"

Poofs of smoke appeared in every corner, making Naruto and Shikamaru suddenly blinded for no more than a few seconds. But when they opened their eyes, a horrifying jutsu of their past entered their vision.

"Hey Naruto-kun..." whispered one with long blonde hair covering most of her naked body. "Come over here!"

"No, over here Naruto-kun, I'm way more prettier!" Another one giggled, battering it's eyelashes with maximum appeal possible. Bolt waited for Naruto to stare pervertedly, or at least act shocked, and Shikamaru the same, however Naruto looked a little skeptical. But he was gaping, eyes wide in surprise for he had never expected this. The camera zoomed in on his eyes, making the scene seem a little different them what it actually was.

"Naruto-kun, come and give me a KISS!" squealed the blonde one, walking towards him, eying him. A similar one with olive skin and short black hair covered in clouds did more or less the same to Shikamaru, who just looked annoyed.

"How childish..." He remarked, turning to Naruto with a glare.

"No, it's child's play," Naruto retorted angrily. "Okay Bolt you silly idiot, take away that stupid transformation, or I'll attack you out of it!

"But darling, don't be so harsh on me!" she pleaded, kneeling down on the floor. "Naru-"

Suddenly the transformation faded, leaving Bolt, with a slightly dumb struck, mid way kissy face, sitting awkwardly on the floor.

"Aw man..." He moaned, getting up and brushing himself off. "Guys, turn back!"

The several girls sighed and disappeared with a poof, being replaced by annoyed boys a crowded around the Hokage and Shikamaru.

"All you boys scatter!" The Hokage ordered with a glare. "Not you Bolt, you're staying behind!"

"And I suggest you give me that camera," snarled Shikamaru, making the boy who did it gasp and run away.

"Now, Bolt," said Naruto, a little too triumphantly. "Explain to me why that Sexy Justu attack of yours didn't work?"

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**Sorry if you don't like my take on the personalities (lots of you do which is great but some aren't) but I worked with what I had from the manga, and made the rest up according to their parents personalities and more over, my imagination. If you view them in a different way then great, it's just how I write them to be in this story.**

**Thanks for the reviews and follows. We're at almost 90 already like four away (wow) and close to 50 faves. How awesome is that? Love you and see you soon xoxoxo**

**p.s who gets my Saturday reference. Three days straight? Three days straight xD**


	6. Chapter 6 - An unlikely conversation

**Hi, I'm back again with another chapter! Thank you for almost 100 follows already! It's awesome to think that many people want to read the stuff that I do in my spare time. I don't know if it's any good, but...**

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"Hey, Shikadai wanna hang out?" Asked Bolt cheerfully as he approached his bored looking looking friend hopefully. It had been a couple of days since the 'incident', and Bolt was avoiding his father, even though he really wanted to learn the new jutsu as soon as possible, for the exam was less than a week away. In fact, he was quite worried about them, and had been truing as hard as he could without anyone else, mainly focusing on the jutsu's required and a bit of Taijutsu, though the latter was not something he enjoyed that much, he felt bad punching the life out of things, but he wasn't exactly bad at it.

"Sorry Bolt, but I've got to catch up with the troublesome training with Chōchō and Inojin today," he replied, shrugging his shoulders, before spying Inojin, who was talking to Sarada's pink haired mum, Sakura, for some reason. "You know the exams are soon, right? Anyway, I gotta go, so..."

"Shika-! Awww..." jumbled Bolt, a little disappointed. Now he had no one to hang out with for the day, for the Ino-Shika-Chō formation was out training, and all his mates from the prank had been avoiding him ever since the Hokage had shouted at them. They hadn't got the worse though, Naruto was absolutely furious with his son and had called of his new jutsu training until he came and apologised properly with out bitterness in his voice or managed to say it like he meant it. Which of course irritated the boy greatly, as he hated to swallow is pride at the most of times. This was no exception just because it happened to be the Hokage.

Bolt scanned his eyes around, spotting Shikadai and the rest of the formation edging away into the forest, presumably to meet their parents in the mist of it. The only other people around town at that moment were some girls he didn't particularly know or like, or more over didn't like him, and the geeky girl that always ignored him and tutted in class, who wore the Uchiha clan symbol on her clothes. But then again, she was a goody-two-shoes as far as he knew; maybe she could help him out a little, and maybe he'd give her something as a reward, but he couldn't think what. He barely knew anything about her, apart from her parents and the fact she was quite studious

Sneakily, he crept towards where she was stood with her mother, who was buying groceries at the shop with a smile. She was very pretty; Bolt couldn't help wondering why Sarada didn't look the same. Plus, Sakura always looked cheerful and rosy, where as her daughter looked a bit sullen. Too bad, it wasn't is business anyway! Putting on his best smile, he ran up to Sakura with shining eyes.

"Hello Mrs Uchiha!" he greeted her, surprising Sakura, however not getting much of a reaction from Sarada. From the look on her face, it seemed like she knew he was hiding all along.

"Oh, Hi Bolt," she replied, with a broad smile. "Are you alright? Do you need anything?"

"Uhhh..." started Bolt, but was brushed away by Sarada who had an impatient look on her face.

"Mum can we go now? You promised to watch me train today, remember?" she said, glaring at Bolt from a direction that her mother wouldn't see.

"Wait! I need to talk to you about something!" protested Bolt, looking directly at Sarada. "Something private."

"Private?" echoed Sakura, jumping to conclusions in her mind quite quickly, thinking that he was the reason why Sarada had been so insecure lately. Sarada blushed a furious shade of red, but now in that way, it was out of frustration knowing what her mother was thinking.

"You're annoying," she remarked, crossing her arms with a stubborn look on her face. "Bolt."

Bolt looked at her wide eyed as she walked away. He thought that it might be a bit difficult to win her over.

"Hey, Mrs Uchiha!" he shouted suddenly, turning to the pretty woman who looked like she was in some nostalgic daze. "What does Sarada want more that anything in the world?"

"Are you trying to impress her?" chuckled Sakura, hands on her hips.

"Ummmm...It's a bit different than what you're thinking!"

"Ah, don't worry, I know something that she's had her eye on the last few weeks. Though, there is something that she wants, what I want even more in the world..." her voice trailed off, her eyes looking moist and sad all of a sudden. Bolt felt a bit bad, wondering what he had said to upset her.

"What's wrong Mrs Uchiha?" he asked worriedly. "Did I upset you?"

"Oh, not at all!" replied Sakura, putting a hand to her mouth, and smiling. "What were we talking about again?"

"Don't worry about it," said Bolt, abruptly seeing that Sarada was drifting away, almost out of sight. "I'm going to, erm, hang out with Sarada for a while okay?"

"Sure!"

Bolt darted through the crowd, eyes peeled for the black blob that was fading into the distance. Huffing, he started to wonder whether bothering Sarada would really be worthwhile. Perhaps not. But he had put so much effort in now, he could't give up! Eventually he reached the end of the main street, and saw her, sitting on a bench near the outskirts of town. She just sat there, her legs moving with the slight wind and her dark eyes glued to the floor. Sighing, he walked over and sat next to her, of course, not getting much reaction.

"I need your help," he admitted, after a few moments of silence. "Please?"

"What do you want?" she muttered, not bothering to face him, which Bolt found quite rude, but didn't mention it as he was afraid of upsetting her, if she took after her mother and got all sad easily.

"Well, It's just I..."

Bolt explained his situation with many exaggerated gestures, none of which Sarada paid attention to, but she seemed like a good listener so he carried on until he was finished. Then, she turned to him, her eye brows raised in a questioning manner.

"I knew you were goofy, but I didn't think you were that dumb," she reasoned with a shake of her head. "You're hopeless."

"That's why you should help me!" he countered, eyes bright with hopefulness. "Please please, PLEASE!"

"How can I make a difference anyway?" she questioned, seriously doubting Bolt's intelligence. "Your fathers the _Hokage_! A little kid like me isn't going to mean much to him!"

"Yeah, but you're an Uchiha, and Dad told be that your father is very special, but I never she him around so I don't really believe him." Bolt told her, remembering the time his father showed him a photograph of him as a genin, with his two class mates, Sakura, and Sasuke, as well as their sensei, Kakashi, who he knew to be the sixth Hokage. Sasuke, the cool looking boy with the black hair, was supposedly Sarada's father.

"My dad, is none of your business!" she snapped at him, getting up from the bench with an angry expression. "He has nothing to do with you anyway!"

"I know, but it's a little weird, does he live with you? Are your parents split up?"

"NO!" she screeched, going red again and gritting her teeth, wondering if all boys were so tactless. Bolt stood up next to her, confused why she was so frustrated. If he were her, he would just give a straight forward answer instead of blowing his head off with it.

"It's not like that, and a stupid boy like you would never understand anyway," she added quietly. "Just go away!"

"Wait!" he called, as she started running. "I'll get my dad to bring your dad back!"

"What...did you say?" she stopped dead in her tracks.

"If you help me get a plan to get my dad to train me, and a way he can apologise with out making me look stupid, I'll ask him to bring your dad back. Sasuke Uchiha?" he repeated as he caught up with her, panting ever so slightly.

"Do you think he would actually do that?" she asked him, looking hopeful.

"Well they dad often says they're best friends, so surely he would," Bolt figured, mumbling a bit.

"Okay then, but how are you going to learn the Shadow clone technique in five days?" she asked doubtfully. She knew from the many books she had read that it was quite a hard jutsu a bit like regular clones, except they contained the users chakra. But, she also knew that Bolt's father was famous for the amount of shadow clones he could make, so maybe it would be the same for his son.

"Oh it will be easily!" he laughed, a bit over confidently. "Don't you worry!"

"I'm not worried about you. Although you'll probably flop and fail the exam..." she retaliated with a smirk.

"Geez, you're so high and mighty!" commented Bolt, as they approached Sarada's house. "You make out you're so great in your mind, but don't mention it out loud, and that's what annoys me!"

"Whatever."

"HEY, don't go, I'll meet you at the ramen bar at one okay? To discuss the strategy?" he called as she entered the house.

"Whatever." she replied, the smallest flicker of a smile playing on her lips. Her unexpected conversation with Bolt had left her thinking that maybe boys could be reasonable, and not just rude, empty knuckle-heads. "Now leave me alone!"

Bolt stuck his tongue out and pulled a rude face at her, before running off, making Sarada instantly regret her last thought. Of course all boy's were stupid, Bolt had proved that just then. But also, Sarada realised, that sometimes they could be nice. Or maybe it was just Bolt's way of getting out of trouble, bribing her with words that might not even come true. However, he had given her an inkling of hope that her father might return soon, so for that she was grateful.

Then she ran up to the room and stared at herself in the mirror, black eyes stinging for some reason, probably dust in them.

"Don't get your hopes up," she told herself, sternly.


	7. Chapter 7 - An apology of promises

**Hey, you guys! I've been away doing English exams and Welsh assessments (yuck) but I am back with another chapter!**

**For the next arc after whatever this is, which character(s) do you want me to develop a bit more? There's a poll on my profile, so, go check it out! NOOW (but read this too!)**

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"Aww, what is brother so busy doing?" complained Himawari, slouching a little into the lush grass of their garden. "He get's to spend loads of time with Daddy now, and I don't!"

Hinata and her cute little daughter were sat outside, watering and tending to the many beds of flowers they had lined along the walls, and in small beds. Himawari had noticed the lack of appearance of her older brother, as she could hear him even from outside whenever she was in the garden, which was a lot as she found nature fascinating. Her father had taken time off work too, leaving Shikamaru to cover, although he himself had mentioned how he'd like a day or two off, but she had only seen him home for dinner, and she often had to go to bed after that. It sucked, and it showed by the pout on her round, usually smiling face.

"You do know how his graduation exam is in a couple of days?" Hinata reminded her, picking out a bunch of red roses, slick with morning dew.

"Yeah..."

"Well, Daddy is teaching him a new jutsu for it, one that he has used many times himself." she finished, tying a small ribbon around the stems. "It's important to train, you know darling!"

"I can't wait until I'm a ninja..." sighed Himawari, gazing at the big, bright blue sky in wonder. "I'll be really great, and I'll save lot of people with my magical powers!" she demonstrated her 'magical power' by waving her arms around in fighting style gestures, leaping on to a log as if it were her enemy.

"Himawri!" called her mother, shaking her head. "Be careful!"

"But I'm not that strong," she mumbled to herself, getting up and walking back towards her mother. "Dad and brother are much bigger than me. Maybe i'd be better at something else."

"You don't have to worry about that, now," laughed Hinata, plucking a stray rose which had a shorter stem from the bunch. "You can do anything you want with your life."

"Can I ask you a different question?" her daughter asked, standing still as her mother weaved the stem into her hair, stepping back and checking, before nodding with a smile. "How did brother convince Daddy to train him?"

* * *

**XXXOOOXXXOOOXXXOOOXXXOOOXXX A COUPLE OF DAYS BEFORE XXXOOOXXXOOOXXXOOOXXXOOOXXXOOOXXXOOO**

* * *

"Are you sure that this is gonna work? It's not a very thought out plan is it?" questioned Bolt, doubtfully.

"For goodness sake; you should know just how to swallow your pride and just apologise, plain, apologise!" grumbled Sarada, glaring at him.

The two were stood out side the Hokage's office door, preparing to put their 'plan' into action. Bolt wasn't feeling too good; he had a light feeling in his stomach, some how making him feel weighed down a bit. He had gone along with Sarada, nodding and shaking his head at appropriate times, but not actually listening to her many lectures and reasoning. Basically, all she said was that he should apologise meekly, with no pranks alongside, or sneaky little quips at the end that might make his father angry. Sarada didn't really know the Hokage much in person, however, of course she knew all the shinobi rules as well as the common fact that everyone should respect the Hokage, no matter what the relationship. He was the most important person in the village, she supposed.

"Yeah, yeah I got that part. How do I get him to train me? And then complete my part of the deal?" he moaned, glancing through the crack of the door. His father was signing papers, whilst talking to his advisor, Shikamaru. Great, now he would have to apologise to Shikadai's dad as well.

"Don't worry about that," she dismissed. "Do you want to learn a new jutsu and pass the exam?"

"Yes!"

"Then listen. You have to enter with a bow, and tell him that you are sorry - say it sincerely, and agree to everything he says, no answering back, and then leave. Okay?" She explained with a commanding attitude.

"Geez, I heard you," Bolt rolled his eyes, still focused on the crack in the door. It wasn't surprising that he couldn't hear much at all. "But you don't have to treat me like some stupid little kid, ya know!"

"But you are a stupid little kid," responded Sarada bluntly, making Bolt huff in frustration, has he knew she was right in some way, though he wouldn't call himself stupid, or little for that fact.

"Whatever! I'm going in now." He pulled a rude face and opened the door, leaving Sarada to peek from the light in the corridor, shining brightly on her pale face.

Quietly, he entered the room, closing the door without even thinking about his demanding companion, but luckily Sarada spotted a doorstop and pushed it to stop it.

Naruto looked up from his paperwork, a smug grin on his face as he saw his son approach him. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, glancing back an forth from Naruto to his son, noting yet again how alike they seemed, or at least Naruto's yonger self.

Bolt stopped a few feet away and bowed to him, a determined look on his face, just how Sarada had told him he should.

"Dad...er, I'm really sorry..." he muttered quietly, staring at the floor, making it easy for the two adults to see he was decidedly uncomfortable. "About, ya know, the prank thingy..."

"I'm glad you got the courage to step back and apologise," replied his father kindly, folding his arms as he remembered how hard it was to apologise at first, but afterwards he would always feel so much better. "It was very foolish of you."

"I know. I'm sorry too for you as well, sir," he continued, turning to face Shikamaru, who nodded in acknowledgement. "Sorry!"

"Well, now what are you going to do?" Naruto asked his son, leaning back in his chair. "Was there something else you wanted?"

"Yeah. Don't you remember?" sighed Bolt, thinking that is father must be getting old and forgetful like Iruka, whom he treated like a grandfather of such. "You said you'd teach me that new jutsu, you know, the Shadow Clone technique?"

"Hmmm...but isn't your exam in just a few days?" Naruto tried to remember when he last spoke to Shino. "It's a difficult technique for someone as young as you."

"Oh..."

"But considering he is your son," mentioned Shikamaru logically. "He's bound to have immense chakra stores and life power, don't you agree?"

"That would make sense, I suppose. You're as right as ever Shikamaru." agreed Naruto, getting up from his seat with a grin. Bolt started to doubt Sarada's plan; he had assumed that he would give her a lecture and act way more strict and scary like she described, yet he was being kind, looking quite relaxed now.

"Dad?" he said, glued to the floor as his father shrugged out of his Hokage wear.

"No, not dad anymore. You will call me...Naruto-sensei!" he declared, pointing at his son. "We only have a few days, so we're starting today, full strength. You'll stay with me all night, until tomorrow afternoon, where we'll go out for food-"

"AT THE RAEMEN BAR?" Bolt interrupted, eyes open wide with awe.

"Yes, keep your voice down!" his father hissed, rolling his eyes. "Then another day...then it's your exam, okay?"

"Yes da- Naruto-sensei!"

"Good let's go," he told, him about to leave the room, but was stopped by Shikamaru, who looked a little frustrated.

"Naruto, you can't just go off like that. You have paperwork to approve today!" he reminded him.

"Well, it's not that much, I could probably do it later tonight, but I'm gonna be really tired. Say, Shikamaru, why don't you take over just for today with Temari?" he suggested, completely ignoring the fact that Shikamaru hadn't had a day of for several weeks, and that Temari had to go on missions too, more over having Shikadai to look after.

Naruto saw the disappointment on Shikamaru's face and instantly regretted sounding so brief and demanding. That wasn't his intention at all!

"Look, I'm sorry! How about I give you, like, a whole week of next week or something?" he added, smiling, though he knew it would be difficult to sift through the paper work without the intellect of Shikamaru by his side.

"Really? If it's not to much of a trouble to you, sure! I've been meaning to ask for a short break for a while now." laughed Shikamaru, his face breaking into a smile. "I'll go get Temari. Shikadai will be happy to stay at Chōji's or Ino's for a bit, he won't have to be around me. Haha!"

Naruto smiled as Shikamaru quickly scattered, leaving his son to wonder how it was possible for three clans to be so close. He knew they had sworn to protect each other, but still, they always seemed to be about each other.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Sure!" smiled Bolt, and opened the door, going in front of his father. He suddenly heard a banging noise beside him, and it dawned on him; he remembered that Sarada had been there outside and he had just slammed the door on her. Naruto turned around in shock to see the girl on her knees, readjusting her glasses, however, he did recognise her.

"Uchiha?" Naruto called, making her gasp and instantly stand up. "Sarada, what are you doing here?"

Sarada stared at Bolt coldly, practically making him screech in fear. Naruto looked back and forth from the two children, wondering what was going on.

"OH! She was helping me." shouted Bolt, pointing at her bluntly, making her raise an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry, Lord Hokage. I was merely helping Bolt apologise because he is too, erm..." she paused before saying something rude (but true) to describe him. "..well, he asked for my advice. So I gave it. Obviously..."

"Oh. I'm glad you two are getting along," grinned Naruto, walking down the corridor with them, now either side of him, though Sarada was a little behind. "Sarada, you remind me so much of your mother..."

Sarada smiled, but she didn't agree. She wasn't pretty or kind like Sakura, she was blunt, sarcastic and skeptical in her own personal opinion. But Naruto hadn't finished speaking yet.

"...But even more so, like Sasuke." he finished, not breaking the broad smile he had on his face. "Just the way you talk! Kind of nostalgic."

Sarada smiled again, and walked bowed, before briskly striding down the corridor and out of the Hokage building, jumping down the concrete steps, leaving Bolt and Naruto to speak.

"So, what was your side of the deal?" asked Naruto, looking suspiciously at his son, who was quite surprised at his sudden question. "Don't deny. Sasuke would never do it unless there was something to gain, and from what I know, your gi...lady friend is much like him."

"Well I did say one thing...well kind of...erm, promised I guess. But maybe not, well she said..."

"Just tell me!" chuckled Naruto. "I'm just curious."

"Well..." hesitated Bolt. "I told her you could bring her dad back!"

Naruto's smile faded all of a sudden, wondering how Bolt even knew that Sasuke was gone. He must get up to more then he had originally thought!

"Look, it's not that simple," he said quietly, not looking his son in the eyes. "Sarada's...Sasuke's on a journey. A pilgrimage of some none-religious sorts. Like a guilt trip, or something. I...Sakura...We've tried looking for him, but it doesn't look like he's coming anytime soon. He's visited more than a few times, mainly just to Sakura, or a couple of times me. But he hasn't been back for a couple or years now."

"Huh? I don't understand!" Bolt sighed.

"Just don't make promises you can't keep."


	8. Chapter 8 - Defying sunset

**Sorry for my absence for the last week or so! I just moved house and have a bunch of exams to do so I haven't had time to write/upload, but since I don't have many more exams, I'll be uploading more frequently than I have been. So as always, enjoy!**

* * *

"And...release!" cried Ino, as she quickly and efficiently broke out from the mind transfer jutsu that her son was demonstrating. "That was good Inojin, but you didn't completely take over my mind."

"I'll try harder next time," reassured Inojin, but had a doubtful look on his face. Genjutsu, unlike his mother, wasn't appearing to be his strong point at all.

"Okay. Now I actually have a mission now, so I guess your father will have to takeover your training," sighed Ino, flicking her blonde hair back. "But keep practicing! It's only tomorrow..."

"Yes, Mother!"

"Geez, this is so dull..." Inojin heard Shikadai moan from the other side of the tree, as Ino leapt and disappeared into the lush forest. "I can already do the shadow possession!"

"I know, but you can only do it for a few seconds without pacing yourself; you're too quick, you know!" Shikamaru told him sternly, with a glare. "You are powerful, like your mother, but you need to be smart with your stamina as well, or it's pointless!"

"Ugh...Gimme a break dad. Hey Inojin, you wanna go take a break with me?" Shikadai changed the subject, quite ignorantly.

"Um, sure," replied the pale skinned blonde boy, a little nervous in the presence of the Hokage's chief advisor. "But..."

"Do what you want Shikadai, I've got Naruto's paper work to do..." Shikamaru sighed, pausing to sigh. "So I might as well go. But no skiving, your mother expects you back here in an hour to work on your accuracy."

"Whatever," muttered his son, walking over to Inojin, who was standing a little awkwardly behind him. "Let's go..."

"Shouldn't we wait for Chōchō?" suggested Inojin, but was dismissed by a roll of Shikadai's slanted eyes. After thought, he added under his breath. "I guess she could do to lose some weight, anyway..."

Inojin followed Shikadai through the tangle of meshy forest that surrounded the leaf village, dodging under branches and hopping over stumps whenever they came across one, slipping over quickly, but also noticing one thing. Shikadai had chosen a different path to him, one with minimal obsticals, a smart choice for the son of the smartest man in the leaf village. He also was taken aback by his agility, and felt a little disappointed that he couldn't keep up so much.

Shikadai just wanted to focus on getting to the village. Food, and something else to do besides from training were the only things motivating him to do, so he didn't slow down. Eventually, the two had reached the heart of the leaf villages, and started slowing down as they approached the centre.

"Hey, Inojin, do you have any money?" asked Shikadai, peering into a shop window.

"No," he replied, though slipping his hands into his back pocket. "And if I did, I wouldn't give it to you!"

"What? You're such a drag Inojin. My father said your fathers the same, huh."

Inojin didn't want the conversation to go downhill, so instead he turned to the boy and suggested something else that didn't require money.

"You know, we could always give Kiba-san a visit. We can walk his dogs!"

"No way!" Shikadai refused. "That's boring...and requires effort."

"Well, what else are we gonna do?" pouted Inojin, as they passed the last cafe in the entire centre. "You always complain, but you never have any suggestions, you're so irrational!"

"Don't use your fancy words on me!" retorted Shikadai, feeling his voice tense up slightly. "We both know I'm smarter, and you can't disagree with that!"

"You're father may be the most clever man in the village, but that doesn't make you the same!" argued Inojin, feeling a small flame being ignighted in his chest.

"I don't care...I'll pass, and become a genin in no time! I don't know about you though, you can't even master that mind possession-" started Shikada, but Inojin grabbed his arm frustratedly with a glare.

"Please stop this! You're being extremely rude and quite frankly stupid, don't you even-"

"Shut up!" yelled Shikadai in response, grabbing the smaller boy's collar roughly. "You're just-"

"Shika!" called a strong, familiar voice from behind, instantly stopping the two boys, who where very close to starting a fight, right there on the street. Shikadai turned his head swiftly, to see who it was, and almost imedietly felt regret in the pit of his stomach. Of course, it had to be her, the one and only...

"Lady Temari-er, Mrs Nara!" exclaimed Inojin, who had never really spoken to Shikadai's mother up close before, though he had of course seen her whenever he had gone to his house.

"Oh, Inojin...Shika, please explain what you were doing here?" she asked, calmly, but with a firm accusative tone to her voice.

"Nothing..." murmured Shikadai, cursing under his breath;unfortunately Temari was just in earshot.

"What did you just say?" she snarled at her son, separating him from Inojin, who was relieved that it wasn't his mother. "You're coming back with me right now!"

Then she turned to Inojin, an apologetic, yet suspicious look on her tanned face.

"Please, ignore anything Shikadai had said to you. But the same goes for you, Shika..."

Temari walked off, head strong, practically dragging her poor son behind her like a doll. Inojin felt sorry for Shikadai; he knew his parents were strict, but he also felt kind of glad, as Shikadai's snaps had been annoying as well as uncalled for.

* * *

"I want this one!" cried Himawari, gazing at the bouquet with many different shades of tulips, Himawari's favourite flowers, coming before Lilies and Roses, of course.

Her and her mother had come to the town centre for shopping, something Himawari rarely took part in, as she often stayed at home with her Father when he was free, or often went to her mother's close friends, Kiba's house, or she had even stayed with Sakura a couple of times. She loved Sakura because she made it clear how much she loved daffodils, so whenever Himawari had to stay, she'd pick a bunch of them for her, unless they weren't in season.

"But Darling, wouldn't you like a plush instead?" asked Hinata, her hands on her hips in wonder. "That's what all the other children like."

"Brother says they're for babies," remembered Himawari, thinking about the day they went shopping last, and Bolt had to tag along. "He always buys cool things like kunai..."

"Your brother is older, and he's also close to becoming a ninja," Hinata explained with a pretty smile. "He's been working very hard these last few days, how about we get him a gift?"

"Fine then..." muttered Himawari with a pout, as Hinata drew her out of the florists and lead her down to the weapons store, but it was soon rubbed off her face as she saw the vast array of items in the store. It practically made her starry eyed with wonder.

"Hey, Hinata!" called the woman who was stood at the counter, with a cheery wave. Himawari averted her eyes towards her, smiling at how pretty her hair was in two cute buns. Evidently, she loved anything that was pretty, including people.

"Oh my, it's nice to see you, Ten ten!" replied Hinata, walking up to the counter with an equally nice of smile. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Himawari sighed as the two adults chatted for awhile, and slumped against one of the cabinets that had different complex weapons in. She instantly spotted the many posters and paintings one the wall - all of brave ninja fighting with their powerful jutsu and complex tools. There was also portraits of all the Hokage, one she recognised as her Father, and another one who was strikingly similar - presumably her grandfather. She stared at it for a long time, taking in all the detail in colour, ignoring the ching of the till as Hinata bought something behind her. After what seemed like a long time, Himawari shook herself out of her daze, finding that her mother was at the door. The little girl ran out to join her, a some what determined look on her face.

"What is it?" asked her mother, giving her daughter a sideways glance at the strange expression on her face. "Is something wrong?"

"I'm gonna be Hokage!" declared the girl triumphantly, closing her eyes that the thought.

"Huh? Well I guess I never really imagined..." mumbled Hinata quietly, surprised at the sudden outburst. "You're so peaceful!"

"Well, I'll get brother to do all the fighting, then I'll give my flowers to everyone in celebration!" she explained, as if it was obvious. "They are just as good and hard as each other, right?"

"Fighting and Gardening?"

"Yeah! They're the same..."

Hinata sighed and shook her head at her daughter, who skipped along oblivious, a fiery look in her eyes. It was funny what she had just exclaimed, but Hinata had the look of fire in her eyes, and she hadn't seen such a look since Naruto.

Or maybe it was just the setting sun reflecting in the distance. Either way, Hinata didn't really care, as long as she was happy.


	9. Chapter 9 - Written Exam

"We will now start the written test. It's just to test you on the basic concepts and rules of being a Shinobi." Explained their sensei, glancing up at his quiet class from where he was stood in front of the board. "Does any one have any questions?"

The children looked around, glancing at each other to see if anyone was going to say anything. It looked like no one was going to bother, so Shino just handed out the white exam papers quickly, starting with the front row, and eventually going back to the end of the class where he originally was. Sarada took the short amount of time to check that everyone was ready. She wasn't trying to suck up, but she felt as the person with the most common sense in the room, she should check out that everyone was preparing properly. She saw Shikadai in the corner of her eye, sighing at the paper, but not complaining. Lee Jr looked so determined it almost made Sarada cringe! And then of course...- well, actually, Bolt looked kind of determined too, but less intense. She guessed that his father had given him a lot of training over the last few days. Nevertheless, Sarada had no doubt in her mind that she would be top of the class anyway.

"...you Have half an hour. I will tell you when you have five minutes left. Begin!"

Sarada quickly turned over the piece of paper, scanning the inked words thoroughly before smiling secretly to herself. This was going to be easy. She was well versed on all the Shinobi rules; her mother had been most pleased when she had versed them all out to her the other day,with out even checking once. The other questions were mainly just problem solving questions, involving logical tests which were essential for any ninja during battle. Flicking out her pencil confidently, she started scribbling down the various answers with not much trouble at all.

Bolt on the other hand, was having a small bit of trouble. He was good at the logical questions; but whenever his father gave him a practice problem, he'd always tut at the answer, saying that he stated the obvious and should think out side the box sometimes. But what he was worried about, were the questions on the rules. He, of course knew the odd one and the most important rules, but there was no way he knew them off bye heart! Sighing, he decided that he'd just have to think really hard...or If the worst came to the worst, he'd just have to fluke it.

Shikadai, Inojin and Lee Jr were all writing away, pausing every so seconds or so to think a bit. Meanwhile, ChouChou* was sat staring out of the window, lost in thought. Sarada just assumed that she was lost in thought. Actually, she was just daydreaming about how Anko had promised to take her out after the exam, so that motivation kept her going, though she wasn't very confident on the test.

Shino checked his watch. They were half way. Most of them were still writing, but he noticed that Sarada, as well as Shikadai were already finished.

"If you are finished, you may hand you sheets in - make sure you have checked your work and you've got your name on it, and then you can practice quietly outside for this afternoons practical exam."

Shikadai got up first, and walked down the middle isle, muttering about how much of drag it was to do the exams, before moodily walking out of the room with a heavy sigh. Sarada forced herself up, checking she had her name on it. She was confident, she just hoped that she had that jutsu perfected for the exam later that day. After handing it in, she hurriedly left the classroom, ignoring Bolt's wide smile at her as she closed the door. He was such a weirdo. Trying to relax, she followed the sound of Shikadai's footsteps outside to the practice area outside, seeing that the sky was a brilliant shade of blue.

Shikadai said nothing to her, instead just made his various hand signs, and grinned as a pitch black, jaggered line streaked out of his shadow, stretching quite far before receding back to him. Sarada went to the corner opposite to him, making sure that she was least seen amongst the bushes. Truthfully, she hated people staring at her, even watching her, and all attention in general really. It always made her feel exposed and uncomfortable for some reason that she couldn't quite apprehend.

She took a deep breath in, about to release her jutsu, when she heard the rapid pace of footsteps coming from the entrance. Inojin, Lee jr, ChouChou, and a bunch of her other class/smates suddenly entered, making loud noises and laughing amongst themselves. Great, all she needed. Now she wouldn't be able to practice alone.

"Hey!" shouted Bolt, loudly from the centre of the field. "Let's see everyone's justu!"

Everyone seemed thrilled at the idea, and soon formed a some sort of queue behind Bolt, as if he was the leader. Well, he seemed to be the ringleader of the pack, as it seemed.

"Sarada!" yelled Bolt, cupping his mouth with his hands to project his voice. As if he wasn't loud enough. "Come and join in!"

"No thanks..." She declined curtly, turning away slightly. "I'd rather...not."

The excitement from the group grew louder, until it was hopeless. There was no way Sarada was going to Be able to practice. For one thing, she didn't like the presence of too many people - and of course, Bolt always got on her nerves no matter what.

"What! Aw you meanie... I wanna see your fire!" He pouted, doing puppy dog eyes on her. She turned to him sharply, her eyes narrowed.

"How to you know my jutsu is the fire ball?" She asked him quietly, rushing towards him anxiously. "I've never shown anyone before!"

"Well," he whispered, moving his hand over his mouth to whisper. "My father always talks about Sasuke and him when they were our age, you see!"

"Oh.." Came her rather reply. At least it was the Hokage talking about her father and not anyone else randomly nosing around and butting into her business.

"Anyway, aren't you going to show me it?" He repeated, a little impatiently. "I'll show you my amazing shadow clone jutsu!"

"No," she murmured, her eyes sliding away from his. She could see the other classmates showing off their jutsu and practicing against each other, together. It seemed friendly, but a little competitive at the same time. Sarada didn't want a mix, it had to be one or the other. Preferably as quiet and none violent as possible.

"I-"

"Sensei!" called ChōChō, running as fast as she could to the approaching teacher. "Is it lunch break yet?"

"Yes, you may leave the premises, but do not be late for the second part of the exam!" He demanded, as ChōChō giggled in delight, dreaming up fantasies of the meal she had been promised from Anko.

"Alright!" yelled Shikadai, looking oddly enthusiastic for once. "One hour for lunch and Shõgi!"

"You are so into that game, Shikadai," scoffed Inojin with a smirk. "It's a waste of time!"

"Shut up!"

"Be quiet, both of you!" Ordered Lee Jr with a feisty look on his eyebrow invaded face. "We must not let the power of youth be wasted!"

"No one said you were in charge!" Bolt yelled back igorantly with a smirk. "I'll probably be the next Hokage, after my dad, so I won't take orders from you!"

"Run along kids, and stop arguing, for the Hokages sake. He can probably see and hear you from his office!" Shouted Shino, reeling in on the sudden silence that fell upon the children the minute he mentioned Naruto. They must either be in awe...or Fear. Most likely the latter, as most of the students knew Naruto to be a strong and fearless Hokage, the best in the whole village.

"Yes sir..." Mumbled a few as they sulkily left the practice field in small clusters, leaving Shino behind with a discreet but triumphant look on his face. Mentioning the Hokage always worked, for this class anyway.

"Shino!"

Someone called his name and he turned sharply. None of the students knew his first name, so it couldn't be them, but the voice sounded familiar and when he turned around, it confirmed it.

"Shikamaru..." He mumbled, approaching him with his hands in his jacket pocket. "Is everything alright?"

"Oh yeah, it's a pain but Naruto wants to speak to you!" replied Shikamaru, itching the back of his head. "It's probably about Bolt..."

"Oh really?" Shino grinned. "It's been awhile since I've spoken to him. I've only got an hour though."

"Geez, don't worry it's only a quick talk."

"Alright, I'll follow you up. Say, weren't you supposed to be having some time off with your family?" he mentioned, as the departed from the area, following the pathway up into the school and Hokage building.

"Yeah, but Naruto's keeping me until tomorrow."

"Oh,"

Shikamaru was very much looking forward to the promised break. Temari had planned, and managed to get a few days off too to come, where they were hoping to get away together for a bit. Shikadai would probably enjoy a little time by himself, with a little freedom (though he would be staying with Inojin, whom he wasn't getting on with at that time) so everyone would be happy. Shikamaru and Temari were tired, from their various missions and Shikamaru's mountains of paperwork he had to sift through, and they deserved time off; Naruto clearly saw that in both of them.

They walked up the wide path of stairs, twisting around the Hokage building until they had reached the top, where Naruto's office was situated. The door was ajar, so Shikamaru peered through the crack in order to not disturb him if he was meeting anyone. Much to his surprise, he saw that Naruto was clearly worked very hard, pen scribbling on paper like there was no tomorrow. Sighing, but with a smile on his face, he knocked loudly on the door, three times.

"Shikamaru? Come in."

They entered, Shikamaru first, who went on to join Naruto beside his desk, where as Shino stood in front, careful to shut the door fully behind him.

"Shino!" he exclaimed, a friendly smile on his face. "I'm glad you had the time to come!"

"It's not problem," he replied politely . "What was it that you needed?"

"Would you mind writing up the results of Bolts test as soon as possible? I know that's not how it usually works, but I need to know what score he got!" he told him, his fist on the table firmly.

"Of course I can do that. If I do it now, during the lunch break, It should be ready as soon as the other half of school is done. Mind, the other exam will be done as well, so I can tell you who passed before the ceremony tomorrow."

"Thank you very much Shino. You may leave now."

Shino left, hurrying towards the classroom, wondering why he wanted the results so badly. Of course, it was his son, but wouldn't it be best just to wait for the ceremony the next day? He shook his head; he shouldn't doubt the Hokage.

Shino walked briskly to his desk, finding the paper instantly. As soon as his eyes scanned the paper, he was shocked.

Thanks for reading! Keep the follows and reviews coming! xxx


	10. Chapter 10 - Happy New Year!

**Hello! I hope everyone has a great 2015, which is in 3 hours as I'm writing this at 20:53 on Wednesday 31 December in GMT 0+! This is my last fanfic chapter of 2014, and I know I'm not very established in this archive, but still, Have a Great New Year. So we're going to take a break from our mini-arc (i guess i'd call this a series of linking one shots) to write a new years story! Sorry, I know we ended on a cliffhanger, but I will upload more often if I get more feedback!**

**Now I don't know how they'd celebrate new years in Japan or Naruto, so I just made it up you know but if i've done something wrong and offended you/ the fandom in some way...Sorry!**

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T**he new years' before.**

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"Mom! Mooooom!"

"Bolt, shhh, dear, I'm Himawari has just fallen asleep!" warned his mother, who was wearing a beautiful lavender coloured kimono that matched her radiant eyes, with her long hair loose and wavy in the slight breeze that filtered through the open window. "What is it?"

"I can't find dad anywhere," he pouted, walking over towards her. "He was here a second ago!"

"He's probably gone to help set up the decorations for the show for later tonight," his mother explained, glancing out of the window in the direction of the Hokage building. Then, she turned back around to her son, who was also looking outside. "Do you still want to stay up to see it? It's going to be late, you know."

"But Shikadai, Inojin, Sarada and all the rest are going to see the show!" he exclaimed with hand gestures. "Apart from Chōchō, she'll probably be stuffing her face with that fatty An-"

"Bolt, don't be so rude!" his mother ticked him off, with a fair, yet firm tone in her sweet voice. "Go and get dressed properly upstairs, and then we'll go and help your father, okay?"

"Whatever!" he replied cheekily, before dashing up the stairs hurriedly, wishing he didn't have to bother dressing up all fancy for the celebrations. This would be the best one, all the previous years he had had to go home early before the whole festival was over, but this time both of his parents had agreed he could stay up till morning to see the start of the new year. He tiptoed across the landing from Himawari's room, where he heard soft snoring coming from inside. His grandfather would be coming in a short while to look after her, so there was no need for his mother to miss the celebrations. Hinata wouldn't miss it for the world though, she did enjoy the celebrations, in particular the jutsu fireworks that were created by the best warriors, including her husband.

Meanwhile, Hinata let her father in, whom she embraced, before leading him upstairs and explaining the time they'd get back, which he acknowledged with a subtle nod before going back into the main room, while Hinata wondered over to Bolt's room. She stepped inside with a sigh as she looked around the room. It was messy at the least, with clothes everywhere, alongside various ninja tools strewn across the floor. However, he was ready, so she made no comment on it, and called his name from the doorway.

"Alright! Let's go!" he shouted, his father's light hearted grin showing on his face, making Hinata smile as she took his hand, tutted to herself with a genuine smile, and walked out of the door with Bolt close beside her. "Let's go help dad!"

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**A couple of hours later**

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"Dad...New years' celebrations are always a pain," Shikadai complained with a yawn, his arms crossed and his slender body leant against a stand. "Why can't we just sleep through it?"

Shikamaru looked up at his unenthusiastic son with a sigh from where he was, outside the Hokage building, making sure all was in order. His wife, Temari, who was dressed up in a regal kimono, with a ironic mini fan as an accessory was helping as well, but was on the other side of the road, so didn't hear her child's moan. If she had, she would of definitely scolded him for being lazy.

"Because it's just a time to celebrate new beginnings or something like that," Shikamaru replied with a shrug. "I can't say I'm too keen on all this hype but I've gotta help out Naruto, you know,"

"Hokage, Hokage Hokage..." murmured Shikadai. "Geez dad, that's all you talk about, huh?"

"Well he is the grand-second-in-command advisor!" Ino commented brashly as she whizzed by with a few pretty pots of flowers in his hands. "He has to adore the Hokage, am I right, Sai?"

"Uh, well I'm not too sure you should take it that far..." mumbled Sai, but was soon dragged away by Ino, causing Shikadai to lose any interest he had originally speaking to his father, so he slinked off moodily to where Inojin was standing in lame pursuit for something to do.

"Hey Shikamaru, how's it going?" came a familiar voice from in front of Shikamaru.

"Naruto!" Shikamaru smiled in surprise. "We were just talking about you."

"We?" remarked Naruto, but with a teasing grin. "I love new years, though it isn't always the biggest celebration in the village. It's just great to celebrate with all the villagers, you know?"

"Yeah," agreed Shikamaru with a friendly smile. "The stars are already out, huh."

He turned to face Naruto, but instead of the cheerful grin he had displayed a second ago, he suddenly looked a little forlorn, with a small frown taking place on his lips and his brows furrowing a bit. Instantly Shikamaru knew what he was thinking.

"Sasuke...he hasn't been back at all this year, right?" Shikamaru prompted quietly, looking back at the shining stars. "He never used to add anything - but it still feels different."

"I bet Sakura's having a rough time all by herself..." Naruto muttered to himself, followed by a long sigh. "This whole pilgrimage he's on...we already pardoned him, so why does he keep going off?"

"I know I'm your advisor, but I can't help you there. You probably know Sasuke more then anyone..." Shikamaru's voice trailed off as Temari approached the scene, a broad smile on her radiant face.

"Lord Hokage, Shika, it's-"

"Geez don't call me that! You're not my mother," Shikamaru butted in childishly with a teasing glare.

"But I am your wife, so I can call you whatever I want," she responded briskly, before turning back to the Hokage, whilst Shikamaru shook his head her way with annoyance. "It's time we better be gathering everyone up; it's just about time for the show,"

"Thanks, I'll just gather everyone up who's gonna be performing in the firework jutsu display..." Naruto nodded, a little half-heartedly before hastily walking back into the Hokage building where some of the people would be preparing. Temari, confused, turned to her husband, who shrugged and looked at the floor, not really wanting to discuss anything. Temari of course new about Sasuke, but he really didn't want to say anything to her as it wasn't really his business. Taking the message by his expression, she quickly scanned around for her son, who was lazily chatting to Inojin, who looked rather bored as well.

"Shika, can you gather all your academy friends over here?" she called to her son, who glanced up at his mother with a slight roll of his eyes. "The Hokages just gathering everyone for the fire work jutsu display."

"Awesome!" came a bubbly voice, from the other direction as an excited and beaming Chōchō entered the scene. "I hope it's as good as last years! Are you going to be in it, Lady Temari?"

Temari nodded as Sarada and her mother approached, catching the eye of Bolt, who was also walking in that direction towards the group. Sarada noticed Bolt's eyes were on her, so she gave him a warning look, so his bright eyes rolled away.

"Pft, I thought you'd be stuffing your face with your fat sensei," remarked Inojin frankly with a sniggered, which Shikadai joined in a little.

"Don't be mean," retorted Chōchō, with an approving look from Temari who wasn't really focusing on their little conversation, but was observant enough to hear the insults. "Plus I've actually already eaten!"

"Of course..." he sneered, but his voice was lost in the yell Bolt made to greet everyone, which wasn't a surprise to Inojin, so he decided to keep quiet for a while. Sakura spotted Ino and Sai in the small crowd of people that was forming outside the building, so decided to head that way, but not before talking to her daughter.

"Sarada, do you want to hang out with the other children in your class?" she asked, as she smiled and waved to Ino from the distance.

"Sure..." Sarada replied, slowly sliding away from her mother and edging towards the group, but just before she reached them, she did an immediate u turn to a bench in the far corner where she could hopefully have some peace from Bolt or any other of the noisy academy students. Almost everyone she knew was there, all looking joyful and anticipating, chatting in small groups and catching up with everyone else. She spotted Kakashi, the former Hokage and her mother's old sensei at the front of the crowd, who was talking to Might Guy, whom she found looked quite similar to Lee Jr. There were other people, like Mirai Sarutobi whom she recognised, as well as other renowned shinobi and regular ninja and villagers alike. She had just started one of her many daydreams, when a sudden buzzer filtered through the air.

"Everyone, please calm down, and ready yourself for the annual firework jutsu show for the new years!" came Naruto's voice through the speaker, as everyone cheered and began to settle down with a hush.

Naruto walked through the door, a big grin on his face, smiling and waving to everyone.

"I appreciate you taking this time to join us, especially the children whom have stayed up late to watch this, we promise it will be a good one!" he continued heartily as Shikamaru, Temari and others gathered in a row behind him.

"Shikamaru!" he whispered behind him. "What time is it?"

"It's currently 11:55pm!" he hissed in return. "Naruto, we better start!"

"Okay!" he turned to address the audience. "Is everyone ready?"

Cheers and calls came from the audience as the small amount of jōnin formed a simple curve around him, and all nodded to him to signal the beginning. With one quick signal, the show began!

Bursts of a fire style jutsu flickered through the air, as Sai could be seen quickly inking out a fire dragon, that leapt off the page instantly, whooshing around the fire as if it were breathing it. The children gasped as someone's water clones and shadow clones jumped into the air, the water ones bursting through the fire, making cool steamy marks in the black sky, whilst the bursting shadow clones added to the dramatic picture, but not only that, it gave Shikamaru time to quickly possess Chōji, Naruto and Temari, who were shakily stood on each others shoulders and forced them into a stable position. Chōji partially expanding his fists, digging them into the ground and creating a stable base for Naruto and Temari to stand on, as Shikamaru quickly joined Sai on the sidelines with a sigh of relief.

"Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!" yelled Naruto, forming the ball, then throwing it into the air as it exploded into it's many needles, which were swiftly controlled by Temari's wind-fan, and each needle shot through the sky, before all the shinobi waiting behind him added their just, creating a fantastic explosion of colours reflecting in the great sky above. The crowd cheered in delight, clapping sounds echoed through the village, making Naruto grin at the appreciation. As he leapt down and waved at everyone, he realised how lucky he was to be where he was.

He then spotted Bolt, his son, peeping from the crowd, looking extremely impressed and proud, more than he had ever seen someone so proud before. His cheeks were pink and his smile was endless as he cheered along with the crowd, boasting at how awesome it was that his father...was the Hokage. Next to him was his beautiful wife, who looked content next to her son and sister, and Naruto smiled, not just for them, but for the village that he had lived in, and was now responsible to upkeep.

"This is gonna be a great year!" he exclaimed to the ninja around him, who were all celebrating as the last strike of twelve went off. "It's going to be amazing, because I have everyone here!"

Laughter rang in his ears. A perfect end always makes for a perfect beginning in his eyes.

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**Hope you all enjoyed! Next chapter hopefully Saturday! Yaaay ;3**


	11. Chapter 11 - Physical Exam

**Hello! I'm back with another chapter, woooooooooo!**

***applaudes self***

**And it's a week till my birthday (17th of January) and I'm soooooooooooooooooooooooo excited. The Last Naruto is out in English on my birthday!**

**So yeah. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

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"So?" asked Naruto as Shino walked in, gripping the paper with his hands a little worriedly. "How did he do?"

Shino glanced at the mark on the paper, bold in it's bright red colour, before glancing back at Naruto, who was looking impatient with Shikamaru beside him.

"Your son is terrible in class," explained Shino a little hurriedly. "He never pays attention, always brings his homework late and whenever he answers questions in class, they are usually very much vague in description, usually some how ending up describing how he will become Hokage."

"Oh, right..." mumbled Naruto in reply a little sheepishly. Sounded a lot like him when he was younger, when he thought about it. He concluded the worst straight away.

"..But whenever I mark those homework's, or classwork, he always seems to get a fair mark and pretty much all the time. He's not the most intelligent in the class, but he certainly knows all about being a ninja. Look at the test!"

"Huh..." Naruto muttered as Shino passed the paper to him, scanning the page quickly. "20/25? What?"

Neither Shino or Shikamaru could tell whether that was a pleased 'what?' or a pained 'what?' but Naruto's smooth smile quickly diminished any doubt they had.

"Awesome! I remember I got something like...7?" he laughed at the nostalgic thought, making Shikamaru laugh too. "I'm pretty sure it was Ino or Sasuke who were top of the class!"

"Yeah, mentioning that, where did everyone come in the class?" asked Shikamaru, wondering how well his own son had done. He hoped with all the influence his Nara genes had in him, as well as the intelligence passed down equally by Temari, Shikadai would turn out to also be quite clever.

"I haven't marked the rest of the tests yet, but Shikadai's paper definitely looked good as well as Sarada Uchiha's..." Shino told him with a smile. "I don't think anyone got any drastic results though."

"That's great, I'm glad the next generation is proving to be great," Naruto nodded, thinking about what Kakashi told him when he had been teaching him when he had just been put into team 7 along with Sakura and Sasuke.

"It certainly is. I better be going now though, the second half of the test is about to start; I don't want to keep the class waiting," Shino said, excusing himself with a bow.

"Thanks." Naruto called after him whilst he left. "Phew... I was worried that Bolt might turn out like I did!"

"Well, he has had the influence of two great parents, one being a great Hokage and the other a great Kunochi. That must of helped a lot you know," Shikamaru reminded him with a nudge. "Oh yeah, can I get that time off now?"

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"Okay, class, settle down!" yelled Shino as he entered the classroom, where the children were chattering loudly amongst themselves. Bolt was the rowdiest of course, along with his mates including Chōchō and Inojin. Sarada had her arms crossed at her desk with a tight lipped look on her face, where as Shikadai looked bored, staring out of the window as of in a daydream.

"Ooh, sensei, is it time to go out to show our jutsu?" called Bolt from the group with excitement in his loud voice.

"Yes, now make a line behind me and let's go," he replied, just before grabbing a clip board from the desk nearest to the door. "Hurry up!"

Soon they were outside where they had been practicing earlier. An orderly line was eventually formed by Shino, who was getting irritated by Bolt's roughness. Unfortunately, the line was ordered alphabetically by surname, so Bolt was near the end next to Sarada, who looked the complete opposite to Bolt. Sighing, he called the first person up.

She was a short girl with long brown hair reaching her waist, with a bright pearly smile on her tanned face. Her hazel eyes flickered with sudden nervousness, but a cheer from her friend in the line made her feel a little more motivated.

"Okay, so the first thing you need to do is a basic transformation jutsu please," he told her, the girl responding with a slightly shaky nod. "Just transform into me, please."

The girl closed her eyes and made the hand signs with concentration on her pretty face. Then, poof! Another Shino stared back at the original one and after a few seconds, Shino nodded and it disappeared, the smiley girl appearing once again.

"Now, a basic clone please," he ordered.

Once again the girl repeated the process, this time, two shady looking versions of herself appearing either side of her, flickering a little as she tried to keep them steady. Shino scribbled something on the clipboard before the clones disappeared on either side.

"And lastly, your own jutsu?"

The girl quickly made hand signs and a mini wave of water sprouted from the ground to her feet, pushing her upwards so she was taller than Shino.

"Mini water wave jutsu!" she shouted as the wave faded and she landed steadily back on the ground with a slight thump. "So sensei, do I pass?"

"According to your show today and your test results, you have become a genin! If you wait over there, once everyone's finished you will receive the official ninja headband!" Shino told her as her smile returned, and she ran joyfully to the other side of the field, waving at her friend who was still in the line.

Next, was Chōchō, who managed to do everything reasonably, except when she tried the partial expansion jutsu, she only managed to make her thumb expand, which made a few people in the line laugh a little mockingly, but the girl just laughed and brushed it off, especially since she scraped a pass anyway.

More pupils went up doing their various jutsu, most of them being easy ones but true to their style or clan. No one really messed up on the two simple ones, and more or less everyone did well on the written test as far as Shino knew. Bolt watched as Lee Jr did some taijustsu instead of ninjustu, but didn't see his sensei complain, so kept quiet about it. It was interesting to see everyones different ninjustu; he saw Shikadai's Shadow possession, Inojin's slightly shaky mind transfer jutsu, and many more until he was second in the line, behind Sarada.

"Good luck Sarada!" he cheered a she stepped up towards Shino.

"Thanks..." she muttered under her breath, not thinking Bolt would hear her, but he did, and it made him feel warm in a funny way. Sarada did both the transformation and clone jutsu flawlessly, smirking to herself as Shino nodded approvingly and scribbled down on the clipboard. Her final jutsu was the fire ball jutsu, which she pulled off quite professionally, though it fizzled out a few seconds after blowing it.

"Excellent, Sarada. Top of the class so far, with only two more to go. Well done!" Shino praised her with a rewarding smile. "Bolt, your next."

"YES! YES SENSEI!" he yelled a bit too loudly, making Sarada clasp her ears in annoyance.

"Okay, go ahead and start..." mumbled Shino, with a pained sigh.

Bolt enthusiastically did all the correct hand signs, transforming into his sensei before him accurately, though the detailed features were a bit blurred. Still better than his fathers, Shino thought to himself remembering Naruto's awful transformation into the Hokage and his Sexy jutsu. He created two clones with ease, pleasing Shino, before triumphantly moving on to his own jutsu, which he had learnt from his father.

"Shadow clone justu!" he declared as two popped beside him, each bearing grins of their faces.

"Did Bolt just do the regular clone jutsu?" Inojin blurted a little critically. "Haha!"

"No...way..." murmered Shino, surprised. "That's a higher rank jutsu than what's expected!"

The two extra Bolt's grabbed kunai knifes and threw them towards Shino, who dodged them swiftly before they landed in the solid ground.

"Woah, that's not just an illusion!" Chōchō marvelled. "I guess Bolt's not so stupid after all!"

"That was impressive," Shino commented, with a calm look on his face. "You pass, Bolt!"

Bolt punched the air in celebration and ran towards his classmates, who had all passed as well as the last student in the line went. Bolt felt so proud of himself, and was actually, very relived that he didn't mess up that last one - it had been extremely difficult for him to control his chakra whilst training, but some how today, he had pulled it off!

The boy who went last managed to pass, so everyone rushed back inside to the classroom, imagining how the headband would feel on their heads once they had them on. Shino walked briskly to the front of the classroom, handing the headbands out to each student, who accepted equally and went to sit on their desks, trying them on with glee. Some put their forehead protectors on normally, but others did it differently, leaving Bolt to wonder what looked the most cool.

Shikadai for some reason had it on his arm, though he wasn't paying much attention to it. Inojin and Chōchō had it on their foreheads regularly; Sarada had hers on top of her head for some reason. He guessed that it might get in the way of her glasses, but he didn't think to ask. Instead of fussing, he just tied it around his forehead, the metal feeling cold on top of the cotton strip. He was a real ninja now, a genin, a graduate...he was fast on the path to being Hokage!

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	12. Chapter 12 - Congratulations!

**Wow, I can't believe we're at 130 follows already!? To think over 100 people + guests actually spend some of their time to read my works of imagination! Plus it's been viewed 18.4k times! Wow, I'm just astounded by how many people like it! The fave no. is great, and I always appreciate the review but the most important thing is knowing people read my stories!**

**Because I'm so nice, here's another chapter for you (Two in a row :D)**

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"Well done on passing, Shikadai," Shikamaru congratulated his son, who had a small smirk on his face as the small family were sat at the table, eating their evening meal. "Of course, it was my shadow possession I taught you that really pulled you through,"

"Did Aburame-sensei say that?" wondered Shikadai aloud as he dug into his rice. "I guess shadows are cool, but I think I'll take a break until we're in our genin teams."

"Don't relax just yet," Temari butted in with a determined expression on her face. "I want to teach you my wind style jutsu too, you know."

"What, that big fan you have with you on missions?" Shikadai queried curiously. He had seen his mother leave with it many times, but he had never actually seen her use it in a proper fight before. He knew his father never used it though, and he had presumed that he would just learn all his fathers jutsu to carry on the Ino-Shika-Chō formation.

"Yeah, it's an extremely strong and useful technique, wouldn't you agree with me Shikamaru?" Temari smiled as Shikamaru shrugged lazily.

"I guess. With us you have best of both worlds; though you did pull off the shadow possession jutsu quite well. Actually, if you are good at it, it would just be troublesome to learn Temari's - pretty point-" began Shikamaru, but was quickly silence by a sharp nudge from Temari's elbow into his right side.

"Don't discourage him!" she shouted, but she knew he was only joking. "Shikadai, we want to make you the best shinobi you can be. Ignore your father, he knows nothing."

"Geez, that was a bit harsh..." complained Shikamaru in a mock-offended tone, trying not to laugh. Temari always took him seriously, even if she found it funny looking back.

"But how can I ignore dad? He's the Hokage's advisor after all." Shikadai pointed out, a little confused at his parents antics, but was too lazy to bring it up. "Right?"

"Exactly Temari!" retorted Shikamaru eying her with a childish grin.

"Shut up and eat!" she retorted, silencing the two with her words, but couldn't help but return Shikamaru's smile affectionately.

They continued to eat in silence until each of them had all finished. Temari excused Shikadai from the kitchen, and turned back to the table, passing to dishes to Shikamaru, who was looking at Temari in a funny way that Shikadai could not determine. She caught his glance, blushing a little, before thrusting the other dishes at Shikamaru, who yelped in surprised whilst she laughed.

_Grown-ups are so troublesome, _Shikadai noted to himself, walking towards his bedroom with a sigh. _I hope I don't grow up to be so confusing..._

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"I'm home..." called Inojin from the doorway as he took his shoes off. "Guess what!"

"Inojin, we're in the kitchen!" called his mother, with a tone of anticipation in her voice. "Come on!"

"Yikes, I'm coming!" he replied, quickly taking his jacket off and walking swiftly through the hallway.

Ino and Sai were sat, talking to each other with smiles, though Ino instantly shot up when she saw the glinting plate of metal on her sons forehead, whilst Sai meanwhile, stayed put as he would just get in the way of Ino's enthusiasm.

"Oh yay! You passed, congratulations Inojin!" his mother squealed, hugging her son tight, so tight, that he mouthed a 'help' to his father, who sighed and shrugged. "I'm so proud!"

"Thanks mum..." he huffed, subtly pulling himself away from her tight grasp. "It wasn't that hard."

"You were quite nervous this morning, though," remarked Sai, as the other two came and sat back down.

"Huh! No I wasn't," Inojin quickly brushed off his fathers comment, fidgeting a little bit, which raised Sai's suspicions.

"Oh yeah, how did the Mind Transfer jutsu go?" Ino asked, quickly, missing the glances between the other two. "I imagine you pulled it off well? Of course, I wouldn't expect it it be perfect."

"Oh it was ok - no worries mum, look I'm a ninja now." Inojin was quick to dismiss the subject. "I wonder who I'll be going with..."

"It's only logically that you'll be with Shikadai and Chōchō so you can develop your formation," Sai reminded him, while Ino nodded. "But I do wonder who your sensei will turn out to be."

"Well," mumbled Ino, thinking about it. "I know that Konahameru is definitely a jōnin teacher this year as well as a couple of others - I actually think Kiba might be doing it as well as Lee..."

"What, Rock Lee?" questioned Inojin, remembering his over enthusiastic son clad in his green jumpsuit. "His son is in my class."

"Well, I'm going to start doing dinner now," Ino declared, getting up and walking towards the kitchen. "-oh...No rice left?"

"Do you want me to go and get some quickly?" asked Sai generously. "I'm sure the markets are still open, though I know they close soon."

"Thanks, honey," smiled Ino, kissing him on the cheek as Inojin watched from the other room, gagging. "Don't be too long!"

"I'm gonna go study in my room now," stated Inojin quietly, turning to the direction of his room, but his father grabbed hold of his wrist tentatively.

"Inojin, is there something bothering you?" Sai asked him, a concerned look flickering across his face, but for barely and instant. "If there is, please tell me."

"I'm ok dad, honest!" Inojin protested adamantly. "You don't need to worry, just go or mum will get mad if you're late!"

"Inojin-" Sai called out, however Inojin had already ran away.

Feeling a little confused, Sai left the house, heading down the roads towards the streets that still had markets up. Most of them were packing up for the night, but luckily Sai found one that was open, and bought enough food for the next week or so, hoping that he had got the right things to satisfy Ino. Sighing, he wondered what was up with Inojin - he was sure something was bothering him, or he wouldn't be acting the way he was now. Inojin was usually always outspoken and quite confident, however he did seem a little shaky. Plus he didn't look particularly joyful, even tough he had just graduated the academy and become a genin.

Sai was never good at delving deep into peoples emotions, but there was something different about Inojin.

_I just can't get my head around it_, Sai thought to himself as he neared his home. _Maybe I'll talk to Ino about it..._

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"Chōchō you passed? That's my girl!"

"Lee Jr, I am so glad to see the power of youth shining through you so brightly! You will make a perfect shinobi, as strong as me and maybe even the amazing ninja, that is Guy-sensei!"

"Mum! Himawari-chan! Dad! I PASSED!"

"Sarada, I'm so proud of you! Your father will be proud too..."

All the ninja academy students went home to happy families that night, all feeling so grown up as proper ninja with the forehead protector as proof. Of course, Bolt was as happy as ever to get the unprecedented praise from his father, who had come home early especially to congratulate his son. At other times, Himawari would of been jealous, but she also felt truly happy for her big brother, whom she now idolised as 'the greatest genin ever!". Bolt also got praise from his mother, which he always appreciated, but having his whole family around him felt so warm and great.

"How about we go out for some barbecued pork or beef?" Naruto suggested, getting a whoop from Bolt and a squeal of joy from his daughter.

Hinata looked up at her husband with shining eyes, so please that everyone was so happy, and Naruto definitely felt it two, squeezing her arm and taking Himawari's hand, whilst Bolt ran ahead out of the door.

"C'mon everyone! I'm starving!" he yelled from outside, as the other three neared the entrance. "Hurry up!"

"We're coming," chuckled Naruto, remembering how enthusiastic he used to be about food. "Go get us a table!"

A few minutes later, the whole family were in the restaurant, but much to Bolt's distress, there were no free tables!

"Aw man!" he groaned, scanning the whole restaurant. "No space!"

Naruto felt slightly troubled, but was reassured when he heard a familiar voice from the corner of the restaurant. Sakura was sat with her own daughter opposite her, tucking into some nice smelling beef from the looks of it.

"Naruto! Hinata!" she called, getting their attention. "We've got space here!"

"Thanks a bunch, Sakura!" Naruto waves back as he strode over towards her with Bolt and Himawari, whilst Hinata ordered at the till with a beam on her face.

"It's not a problem!" Sakura replied with a happy smile, remembering that it had been awhile since she had seen both Naruto and Hinata. "Here, Sarada come sit next to me. Hinata and the Hokage can sit opposite, and if you like, Bolt can sit next to you!"

Sarada gave her mother a warning look, which made Sakura chuckle to herself, but nevertheless made her way over to her mother as Naruto sat down, opposite Sakura. Hinata and Himawari were soon to follow, all sitting on the same row as Naruto, but for some reason Bolt wasn't sitting down.

"Bolt?" Hinata said, pointing to the seat. "Go and sit next to Sarada-chan!"

"But...but!" he protested, but his father gave him a stoney look, so he didn't hesitate to sit next to her. Sarada didn't pay any attention to Bolt, so he didn't bother saying anything to her either, through the whole meal, apart from the 'pass the chopsticks' or 'excuse me'. Meanwhile, Sakura caught up with her good friends, and Himawari gobbled up all her food hungrily despite warnings from her mother to not eat too much. Bolt also stuffed himself full, causing him to get several glares from the feisty Uchiha next to him, but he used his good nature to not let it get to him.

In the end it had been a great meal, and the two families were just getting ready to go when Sarada nudged Bolt and leaned over to whisper in his ear.

_"You're going to keep your promise, right?"_

* * *

**Yes, a bit of a filler but next chapter will be the team choosing! Mwhaha Sarada, you will not like your team. xD**

**Thanks for following/favouriting and feel free to leave a review.**

**See you soon! xoxo**


	13. Chapter 13 - New Teams

"We will now be announcing the Genin teams for your training!" Shino told the class, the brief chatter being hushed by various people with eager, anticipating looks on their faces. All of them were wearing their shinobi forehead protectors with upmost pride, that new form of village identification being the only adjustments to the majority of the pupils, however, some of them, such as Sarada had gone through subtle attire changes.

She now wore an outfit resembling her mother's when she was the same age, however instead of the girly colour pink that was favored by Sakura, she had chosen a subtle mix of black and crimson. It suited her ebony hair and red glasses quite a bit, well, that was what Bolt thought - not that he was looking at her in particular, she just stood out a bit compared to all the other girls, not that it really mattered. Bolt himself was wearing a larger bolt around his neck, as well as his forehead protector gleaming brightly in the sunlight, emended beneath his mop of curly blonde hair.

"You will be put into groups of three to train and go on missions with. In addition, you will also have a jonin sensei to help train and guide you through your missions." Shino explained, reaching for the neatly written register he had prepared on his desk behind him. "Am I clear?"

"Yes sensei!" the class chorused back enthusiastically.

Bolt was practically bursting with excitement, although there was another feeling at the pit of his stomach he just couldn't shake off. It felt like a swarm of butterflies were in his stomach, constantly colliding. He glanced around at the class again, wondering which other two pupils he'd be put in a group with. He didn't particularly hate anyone, though he had found his amount of friends had been slowly declining after people began to avoid him a few days after the hokage prank. He was going to have to work with new friends now, anyway, so he didn't bother worrying.

"Shikadai Nara, Chocho Akimichi and Inojinn Yamanaka!" he called out the new Ino-Shika-Cho generation, who didn't look surprised in the slightest. "You will be team...10."

"Lee Jr, Haruna Aiko and Ryuu Oshiro!" he read out the next team. Haruna, the girl who had gone first with her impressive water style jutsu sighed at Lee Jr, who had clenched his fist in a determined fashion, where as Ryuu, a strong minded boy rolled his eyes from across the classroom. "You will be Team 3."

Shino read out two or three more teams, none of which included Bolt at all. He was getting decidedly impatient.

"...and Next, we have Bolt Uzumaki," he read Bolt's name with a slight lit as Bolt flinched. "Yuuto Yoshida. And lastly..."

Bolt felt the tension as he glanced across the room at Yuuto. He had always joined in with his pranks but always managed to sneak away and shrug off any blame. Bolt knew he was clever, so decided to stay wary of him.

"Sarada Uchiha. You will be Team 7."

Sarada nodded, not looking fazed in the slightest. Bolt wondered what it would be like to work with such a cool and cold girl like her.

"The last team is Team 8, now let me see...Well, you should be able to tell, but the members are Hoshi Hyuuga*, Itsamo Matsu and Jiro Aburame." Shino said, lastly noting a member of his clan was there, though he didn't know him closely.

"That is all. Your Jonin teachers will be here any minute now. It's been, I guess I should say, a pleasure to teach you, and good luck to the future!" he smiled a small smile whilst the pupils gave their happy farewells, though overcome excitement.

They were finally there, the next step to becoming a _great_ shinobi.

* * *

_*She is the (none-canon) daughter of Hanabi._

* * *

"Hey guys, my name is Rikatu Satomi, and I'm gonna be your Jonin sensei while you guys are genin."

Inojin, Shikadai and Chocho looked up to a fairly buff man with short and spiky straight hair, framing his face, which was tanned. On his wrists were several leather ties, looking like they had been worn forever and couldn't be taken off without being cut by a blade. He had a lazy smile on his face, but his eyes were quite sharp, making him look like he could be extremely serious as well as light hearted. His forehead protector was at a jaunty angle; his attire was the regular flak jacket with a few more of the leather weaves sown into it.

"By the way, I'm aware of your formation training that your parents are teaching you, and I can assist in that, though I mainly have my own training methods. I am however, well acquainted with your mother, Chocho, so I know basically what you're doing." he explained with a grin, making Chocho, who felt a little tense - mainly from nerves, but also, lack of constant snacking, ease up a little at his easy going manner.

Shikadai looked like he approved as well, but Inojin looked a little skeptical. However, in order to get into good terms straight away, he just nodded plainly back and introduced himself.

* * *

"Team three!" announced Rock Lee, pushing his fist in the air. "My name is Rock Lee, but you must call me Lee-sensei! To avoid trouble in mixing up names as Lee Jr is clearly my son, you will simply refer to him as Lee!"

"Oh god..." muttered Ryuu, clearly feeling like he had been put into the wrong team as Lee and his son talked rapidly amongst each other with over the top hand gestures, constantly mentioning 'youth'. "You can't be serious!"

Haruna on the other hand was biting her lip, trying to keep a straight face as the happenings in front of her were too hilarious to ignore. She was disappointed she didn't get in the same team as her best friend Hoshi, but she always looked on the positive side, and that was the fact the team she was in now, looked fun.

"You don't look very enthusiastic..." Haruna remarked with a slight smirk, but the boy just shook his head with disbelief.

* * *

"Okay, well this is the first time I've had a team before...uhh..."

Hoshi, Itsamo and Jiro looked up intently at their new sensei, who was tall with shaggy brown hair and distinctive red Inuzuka markings on his face.

"Ah. My name is Kiba Inuzuka, but I guess you can call me Kiba-sensei...You look like a nice bunch - a bit resembling to my old team actually." he introduced himself with a grin, looking at each of them, Hoshi and Jiro in particular.

"Hey, you!" he said, pointing at Hoshi, who glanced back at him with uncertain lavender hinted eyes. "You're a Hyuuga girl, right?"

"Yes, Kiba-sensei, my name is Hoshi - I believe you were on the same team as my aunt, Lady Hinata?" she said, sounding a bit too informal. "I've heard, well let's just say, quite a lot about you."

"Eh? Be careful, or I'll kick your ass!" Kiba retorted fiercely, much to the mischievous Hyuuga girl's glee. "Aren't all the Hyuuga meant to be obedient and observant?"

"My name is Jiro Aburame." Interrupted the shady looking guy, with the same style glasses as the whole of the Aburame clan. "It's nice to meet you."

"Yeah, and you." Kiba replied, getting his cool back. _This kid must be some descendant of the Aburame_ clan. He thought._ I wonder if he is closely related to Shino._

Kiba turned around to look for the other student, but when he looked back, he had gone! Suddenly, he heard one of the pups he had brought along to train a little pant and huff, its happy scent definitely telling him that he was happy in some sort of way. When he looked behind him, the boy, presumably Itsamo, was petting the dog on the floor with a broad beam on his face.

"D'ya like him?" Kiba asked, making the boy glance back up at him. "He's one of the pups of my old companion. He's almost big enough to come along on missions with me. You know, he's really taken a liking to you."

The boy blushed a little, getting up from his knelt position on the floor to beside his sensei, who looked, if anything a little curious.

"I..I love animals very much," he commented, fiddling with a curl of his orange hair quietly. "Especially birds, though I love dogs too..."

"Awesome! I think we're going to get along very well!" declared Kiba to his new team mates, who nodded in response. "Let's go, team 8!"

* * *

"Konahameru-bro!?"

"Bolt, you have to call me Konahameru-sensei now, because I am the sensei of this team. Treat me like I'm any other Jonin sensei, now, please."

Konahameru smiled down at the three bright looking pupils stood before him, each looking completely different from the next. Of course, being close and looking up to Naruto all his life, led him to often hanging out with his children, and particularly Bolt, as his infectious energy reminded him of what Naruto was like when he was younger and when he had looked up to him so. He also knew that Sarada was an Uchiha, as well as Sakura's child, though he didn't know much about her, apart from the fact that she may possess the sharingan, but he really didn't have a vast amount of knowledge on that. The last boy in the team, Yuuto Yoshida, looked like the cool, confident type, however he didn't look arrogant despite the intellectual look on his face when he looked at the others.

"So, my name is Konahameru Sarutobi. What about you; please will you tell me your name, your dreams and your likes as well as your dislikes?" Konahameru addressed his new team.

Bolt instantly threw his hand up with a cheesy grin on his face, getting a nod of approval from his sensei, who noted the slight roll of the eyes from the Uchiha girl next to him.

"My name is Bolt Uzumaki! I like my mother's Ramen! I want to be the Hokage one day because my dad is one, though I'll probably be better, you know. I don't like boring lectures or when my dad tells me off." he declared loudly, making Sarada wince next to him.

Konahameru gestured for the boy next to her to speak.

"My name is Yuuto Yoshida! I like mystery solving and decoding things. I also want to be the Hokage someday, though I know I'll only achieve it through hard work...though I may find a short cut...I dislike people who are lazy and also...Ramen." he explained with a confident expression on his face.

"WHAT!" Bolt shouted out loud. "You don't like Ramen!"

"Bolt, be quiet! Sarada, you're next." Konahameru shushed him, though he found his blurted opinions quite comical.

"My name is Sarada Uchiha. I like books and people who keep promises. I want to find my father and then after I grow up travel the whole world just like he did. I don't like liars and sweet things." she said, simply with a calm and cool aura, though the words 'promises' and 'liar' were heavily instated.

"Well then, now that everyone's introduced themselves, how about we get onto some training?" suggested their sensei with a grin. "Who'd up for it?"

* * *

**WHAT! You don't like Ramen!**

**NARUTO CRIME!**

**I'm trying to develop back stories and characters for the OC'S so if they weren't that descriptive you know why. None of them are canon unless they have been in the previous chapters. Okay, goodnight (or good morning?) and see you soon.**


	14. Chapter 14 - Ramen and Packing

**Hello! Sorry it has been a week or so, but It was my birthday last week and I had a Beta request, so I've been quite busy with stuff so forgive me! However I really enjoy making these mini chapter things or whatever, so there's no way I'm going to stop them. I was planning to release this chapter yesterday, but I wasn't finished quite at half ten, and I was tired, plus I didn't want to give you a half done chapter.**

**Enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

It had been a productive day for team 7.

They had just finished their third mission or so, and were now heading over to the ramen shop, Bolt chattering joyfully with his sensei, who nodded, acknowledging him, but not really paying attention to what he was saying. Confident Yuuto managed to fit in a remark or two, some of which would have frustrated anyone else, but Bolt always seemed to brush it off lightly. As the familiar scent of ramen wafted through the air, making Bolt tremble with anticipation, and Yuuto on the other hand, grab his stomach in repulsion, Konohameru noticed that something was wrong with the usually quietly confident Uchiha.

"You alright, Sarada?" he asked kindly, giving her a reassuring smile. "You like ramen right? If you don't you can always head home like Yuuto is going to, and we can go eat somewhere else another time."

"No, it's okay," she replied, adjusting her glasses. "I just feel a little puffy. My eyes itch and I think I have a cold..."

"Maybe you should talk to your mother later," he suggested, as the ramen shop came into view. Excitiedly, Bolt forgot about his departing friend and walking team mates, and rushed straight in, ordering the biggest portion on the menu, getting a chuckle from the man inside.

Konohameru waved to Yuuto as he left; the boy looked a little pale. Did her really hate ramen that much? Konohameru offered the middle seat to Sarada politely, but she declined, instead taking one of the outer seats, away from Bolt so he couldn't annoy her.

"The usual, please." Konohameru quickly made an order with a wink. "And what about you, Sarada?"

She mumbled something to the owner, who seemed to understand, as he nodded briefly before heading out behind the curtain to help in the kitchen.

"That was a good mission you guys carried out today," Konohameru began to make small talk. "Everyone was very sensible, I was surprised you guys didn't argue..."

"Yeah, but it's boring! I hate having to do the baby D-rank missions. They're so boring, don't you agree Sarada?" she replied, twiddling his thumbs.

"No. Not at all," she snubbed him. "We're genin, fresh from the academy, Bolt. We've got so far to go before we an move up the ranks!"

Bolt pulled a face at her; she was about to retaliate, when three bowls of steaming hot ramen - Bolts, being the largest, were placed in front of them, averting them all from the conversation.

"Yummy! Thanks old man!" thanked Bolt a little too informally, but the man just laughed and told Konohameru he could have it half price.

Sarada ignored the other two as they began to eat, and dropped the odd line. She wished she could join in, but it just wasn't in her nature to be open and sociable, unlike Bolt, in which it was very clear, and if anything, it made her jealous. Her mother was kind and sweet, yet when Sarada tried to copy her, the words came out cynical. Tilting her chin, she realised it looked weird in others people perspective (if they liked ramen) that she wasn't digging into her ramen already, so she smiled a small, insignificant smile to herself, clasped her hands together in gratefulness and picked up the chopsticks swiftly.

Even Bolt had to admit, after three bowls of course, that he had had enough for today, though was eagerly waiting in his mind for the next time he'd be sitting at that shop. Konohameru paid the owner, before joining his two remaining pupils outside. However, before he stepped out from behind the cream coloured curtain, he suddenly spotted something strange from behind a small shaft.

It appeared that Bolt was attempting to talk to Sarada. Curiously, he decided to watch on, despite the funny looks he was obliviously getting from the staff.

"Do you love ramen? I know I do!" he laughed, grinning at the girl, who had her arms crossed as she felt a little self conscious for some reason.

"It's ok." she replied simply, trying not to look at her directly.

"Geez Sarda! Why are you always so moody around me? I haven't done anything to upset you have I?" he asked her, a frustrated tone in his usually carefree voice, continuing to bother her with question after question, though there was some concern in his voice.

"Oh. No, you've done nothing wrong," replied Sarada, though she didn't sound very reassuring. "It's just I've been thinking."

"You probably think too much," Bolt brushed her words off, glancing around for his Sensei.

"I was thinking about the Fourth Shinobi world war," she continued, feeling satisfied as Bolt's ears pricked up to attention accordingly. "And how our fathers were heroes?"

"Oh yeah! I remember dad telling me the story!" Bolt exclaimed with a wide grin. "Sure, dad can be really annoying at times, but he is a splendid Shinobi."

"Well, so is my father," smirked Sarada. "I think, that's why they were rivals?"

"Is this explaining it? Why you are always moody and argumentative around me?" Bolt poised more questions, one eyebrow raised. "Because our fathers, were rivals, we have to be rivals?"

"Exactly," Sarada cut off his questions smoothly. "You're not as stupid as you look."

Suddenly, Konohameru appeared from the ramen shop, a curious look playing on his face. They were certainly an odd and quirky pair; so different, yet so similar. An almost perfect reflection of their fathers friendly rivalry at their age.

"Sensei!" The two greeted him as he neared them.

"We're done for the day," he told them, tousling Bolt"s hair and smiling at Sarada. "But I want you back here at dawn tomorrow. We're going on an overnight mission, so make sure to tell your parents and pack!"

* * *

"Konohameru is Bolt's sensei?"

Naruto and his radiant wife Hinata were sat peacefully in the kitchen, having a small, quiet conversation as to not wake up Himawari, who had just been put to bed. Bolt meanwhile, had rushed upstairs to pack for an overnight mission for the next day. The Hokage had come home a few hours earlier then usual as despite the fact Shikamaru had time off and was soon to leave for the Sand Village the next day with his small family, he was actually coping quite well with all the paperwork he was bombarded with. It was a little dull in the office; he often wished something exciting would happen, although he was pleased of course that there were no raging wars going on. He was definitely content with his beautiful wife and family, as well as the whole of the village looking up to him.

"Yes," Naruto responded. "It didn't really take me by surprise. He'll be good for Bolt, I just hope he can control his eagerness!"

Hinata chuckled to herself, as she remembered that her old team mate was also a sensei for the new genin.

"Kiba's taking on a team this year," she mentioned, Naruto grinning as he imagined how Kiba would be as a sensei. He couldn't image it; Kiba was far too impatient.

"So he finally decided to stop obsessing over his pets and put his good skills for teaching to use," Naruto commented. "I'm so glad everything has worked out for everyone we knew."

"Me too," smiled Hinata. "It's just..."

Naruto noticed that his wife looked a little wistful all of a sudden. His expression turned to one of concern.

"What's up?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I was talking to Sakura recently," she began, looking up. "She was putting on a happy face, but I could tell that she was faking it. I think she's quite lonely with out Sasuke, as it has been two whole years."

"She's waited for him longer than that in the past," Naruto pointed out, but he could't help but agree with Hinata, Sakura always seemed a little down whenever he passed her in the village or dropped by the Uchiha household.

He flashed back to Bolt's sexy justu incident, and the foolish promise he had made to Sarada Uchiha. He'd said he would get him to go and find Sasuke, no matter where he was, and Naruto feared that Sarada might have gotten her hopes up. It wasn't like Sasuke was still on the pilgrimage he had set off to complete after the war. He had returned a few years later to suddenly propose to Sakura and start the recreation of the Uchiha clan. Although Naruto knew that Sasuke had found his place again in the village, he often went on long and far away missions for many months. The longest was probably six months. However two years, was a lot longer.

Naruto has snapped out of his sudden daze by the clumpy sound of Bolt hurrying down the stairs.

"Shhh," Hinata told him, bringing her finger to her lips. "You'll wake up Himawari!"

"Geez, she's not a baby! She's awake anyway..." he retorted, mumbling the last bit under his breath.

"What's all that stuff for?" Naruto asked, as he had noticed Bolt dragging several heavy looking bags down with him. "Surely if it's an overnight mission you only need to bring one."

"But I need to be prepared!" Bolt insisted, with a determined look on his face. "What if..."

"Just bring one. What's in all these bags anyway?" Naruto questioned, picking one up and emptying it. Many clothes came tumbling down, all creased and folded wrong.

"Bolt!" Hinata sighed, picking up the pile. "Look at all these creases!"

"Sorry," he apologised, but he saw no reason why. Did it matter if your clothes were a little creased?

"And what's in this one? It feels like it's full of - rocks," Naruto tipped out the next bag. Many sized pebbles emptied out onto the floor, making Hinata wince at the noise.

"Those are important for fending off assassins when you've run out of ninja tools!" Bolt tried to explain, but Naruto shook his head is disapproval.

The next bag was full of rope, ninja tools and supplies. Hinata put that one by the door carefully. Naruto got rid of the other two; all that was in there was either prank things, paint or bandages which were clearly ripped apart.

"You are clearly clueless," Naruto told his son, who looked up innocently. "How on Earth do I raise you?"

"You know, I was talking to Kakashi-san the other day," Bolt mentioned, smoothly changing the subject. "He said, in many ways I am a lot like you!"


	15. Chapter 15 - Weird Feeling

**GUESS WHO'S BACK?**

**BACK AGAIN?**

**Hi guys! It's been too long! I took a long break from uploading as you can see by the three ish month gap. I had a lot of school work (exams D:) and a whole lot of time consuming personal stuff (not anime!) that I won't delve into right now, but as far as I know, I'll be uploading every other day again! Apart from next week, cos I'm going on holiday! Whoop Whoop? Meet me in Minorca!**

***PofforX Clarification***

**Hi Dario, Thank you for your comment in review, I just want to clear something up: Hanabi's daughter is marginally younger than her classmates due to, as you mentioned, Hanabi's age gap to the other parents, however, as being heiress to the Hyūga clan, she married early. This also explains why her daughter Hoshi still has her surname, as well as the fact she married into a blood relative of the ****family to ensure the byakugan was passed on. Additionally, she was put forward into school earlier so she could have a very prolonged education, as she could be the heiress also.**

**Hope that helped! Bye!**

* * *

Midnight blue had been painted across the pale sky, giving opportunity for thousands of pale yellow bursts of light to peep out - many beautiful constellations could be seen, and the moon was glimmering brightly, like a shining silver coin. The ground was a dull green shade in contrast, where four sleeping bags were strewn on the outer forest floor, surrounding the amber remnants of a fire that had been lit earlier in the night. Although this was obviously not a high rank mission, and there was a low possiblity of ambush or any other sort of danger, Konohameru still insisted they take look out shifts during the night for experience, and so they were used to it when the time came where they needed to.

It was just coming to the end of Sarada's shift.

The two other boys were fast asleep; Bolt stretched out carelessly with his limbs sticking out at some fairly odd angles, and Yuuto, who looked peaceful, was lying next to his sensei, who was resting against the foot of the tree, keeping an eye on everything just in case. They were resting on the outskirts of the forest, close to a near by town where they needed to aid a man in moving some working materials from hard to reach places. The first day had been spent simply walking, with Konohameru trying to keep the peace between Sarada and Bolt, who weren't exactly arguing, but more like voicing their opinions on the smallest of things a little too loudly. Yuuto, although he enjoyed a good debate or any chance to sneak in an indirect insult, stayed out of the two other students' way. Even though she was reserved and a little dull at times, Yuuto couldn't help but sense she was very intelligent, which intimidated him a little, and that was the reason why.

Sarada stared at the star filled sky, wondering how far away each one was from her. Did everyone else in the world see the same stars, the exact same way? Or did people have different interpretations of each flaming ball? She sighed, kind of liking the wonder that surrounded the sky. There were so many things she didn't know yet, and she was determined to find them out.

During her deep thinking, she hadn't noticed the slight stirring of Bolt, a few meters behind her. Squinting at the bright light from the moon, he couldn't make out much with his sore woken eyes, but did see Sarada standing and staring. The pale outline of her figure was almost mystical some how, against the radiant background. She looked beautiful. Scrambling out of his makeshift bed, he stumbled over tree routes and bags towards her, as she turned around at the sudden noise of him shifting.

"What do you want?" she snapped suddenly, slouching a little from her previous upright posture.

"It's my shift now," he replied, raising an eyebrow and shrugging. Sarada felt a little bit bad for snapping, but it was Bolt after all. No apology needed.

"You've got another two hours," she told him plainly, passing him a small torch. "Then sensei will take over."

"I got it, I know!" grinned Bolt, though he spoke quietly as to not wake anyone up. "Sleep well!"

Sarada returned to her sleeping bag, feeling a little uncomfortable with the way Bolt seemed to be talking to her. He almost seemed a little in awe of her for some reason. Shrugging, she pulled the warm sleeping bag around her shoulders and began to feel the tired feeling behind her slanted eyes, before gradually drifting off into a deep sleep.

"It's been a while since we had a good talk, eh Bolt?" came his sensei's voice from the shadows, as his light footsteps pushed down the grass beneath his feet. "Fancy a heart to heart?"

"Meh, deep conversations like that are for cowards," he replied, turning around to face him. "Or for girly girls."

"Like Sarada?" Konohameru said suggestively.

"Nah, I'm thinking more like ChōChō and my sis, _those_ type of girls." he responded.

"So does Sarada not fit into that 'category' of girls?"

"Nah, she's different..." Bolt muttered, fiddling with the toggle of his jacket he had kept on due to the chilly night air.

"Oh yeah?" his sensei questioned, raising an eyebrow and smirking. "I think you like her."

"Of course I like her," retorted Bolt, not understanding his suggestive tone. "I like everyone, within reason."

"No, I mean...Do you have a crush on her?"

Bolt's cheeks burned red in the darkness.

"Uh, no way!" he denied it, frustrated, but with an obvious stutter. "We're bitter rivals! Just like our fathers!"

"If you say so..." Konohameru tried to stop himself from being smug. "Naruto told me that you promised her something?" he added.

"Sarada's weird. She really wants to find Sasuke, but by the sound of it he likes doing stuff independently and doesn't like being told what to do, a little like dad, but scarier." Bolt opened up a little. "I can't really remember what he was like two years ago..."

"Sasuke has had a troubled life," Konohameru sighed. "It's thanks to Sakura, and of course, your father that he has started fresh with his small family in his hometown."

"It shouldn't be to hard to find him, withA a few clues, my, er, I mean, our brains put together and a bit of Uzumaki luck, I'll help Sarada...one day."

"Bolt, it's not that easy. I remember that one time Sasuke..." the young sensei began to ramble.

Bolt yawned loudly; he wasn't really interested in peoples backstories in the slightest, although he was telling himself to listen, as any information on Sasuke could be put to good use with Sarada's search. Konohameru noted his weariness, and despite the fact the blonde boy hadn't been on watch for very long, he decided to let him go. A few minutes later, he was snuggled up in his sleeping bag, and Konohameru shook his head as the boy instantly fell straight to sleep.

If only finding Sasuke would be as easy as Bolt imagined...

* * *

All in all, the mission went well, with only a couple of slip ups and arguing amongst the three. They returned to Kohona the next day, full of tales from their first overnight mission as genin. Bolt especially was not at all subtle at his boasting, and as Sakura had come over to the Uzumaki household for a chat, Sarada had to witness all his blabbing. Of course she didn't just stand there and watch, she corrected him on bits that were too unrealistic, or usually, simply untrue. Sakura, who usually looked stressed out due to her managing the entire hospital, and supporting her small family by herself, looked a lot more loosened up and cheerful in the presence of her good friends. Hinata and Sakura were sat together on the sofa, enjoying each others female company. Naruto was busy in office, and cute Himawari was sat reading a book on flowers in the corner.

Suddenly, Hinata must of said something serious, as the room fell silent. Sakura sighed, and gestured for Sarada to come to her. Sarada nodded, and turned to Bolt, looking a little annoyed.

"C'mon Bolt, let's go outside," she mumbled, arranging the words carefully so it didn't sound like she was asking him out. "Mum said she needed a private word with Hinata."

"Okay then," Bolt replied, wondering what it was, but not interested enough to eavesdrop. "C'ya mum, c'ya Sakura!"

His mother gave him a slight wave as he shut the door, and then returned to Sakura, who looked a little down.

Meanwhile, Bolt was struggling to keep up with Sarada's hurried pace. They walked through town, around in circles, until Bolt finally stopped Sarada with an angry clone justu.

"Hey!" he complained, jumping in front of her. "_Where_ are we going?"

"I was out for a walk," Sarada rolled her eyes as if it was obvious. "You really don't need to follow me, you know."

"But you said-"

"Whatever," she brushed him off dismissively. "Go hang out with Shikadai or something."

Bolt frowned as she started to filter through the clumps of people standing on the streets. _There must be something on her mind_, Bolt thought, remembering what his mother told him once. _'If a soul looks troubled, and tells you to leave, all it's seeking is comfort'_

Thinking about that saying, he began to follow her swiftly through the crowds, and managed to keep up with her in time. Reaching forward, and meaning to grab her wrist in order to stop her walking, his hand slipped into hers, making the girl whip her head around instantly. For a few moments they looked at each other, wide eyed with blank expressions, before Sarada yanked her sand away and pulled an irritated face.

"Sorry," he muttered, dropping his hands to his sides. "You looked upset..."

"Don't do that again," she warned it, even though it seemed unintentional. "You don't have permission."

_Plus_, she thought, _it mades me feel weird._..

"So, is there anything wrong?" he changed the subject considerably.

"Well theres no particular reason to be happy," she simply stated, before turning sharply on her heels and walking away.

Bolt watched her person slowly get smaller as she grew further away. He looked at his hands innocently.

That _weird_ feeling_. He'd never experienced anything like it..._


	16. Chapter 16 - Ino-Shika-NŌ

**Argh!**

**hate me, please. I'm sorry for not updating!**

**im in the summer hols now! Which means uploads AT LEAST weekly! **

**Yayyyy! I'll be starting a new story soon...no guesses?**

**i apologise for my absence.** Please** leave a review for me!**

**Let's continue the story!**

* * *

P.s... I'm aware of the manga! Remember these are snippets into their lives and mini sub plots! So I won't be writing about the manga (eg. The Uchiha stuff) I wanna focus of the kids! XD

enjoy xx

* * *

It was a Tuesday.

_Great, a Tuesday, _thought Shikadai with a dissatisfied sigh, _Formation training day..__._

_"_Tuesday!" piped up Chōchō with a flashy grin. "I get exxxxxxxtra food today with my favessss!"

Shikadai winced at the bubbly girl's enthusiasm. Was food all that drove her?

The sun had just peeked over the sleepy hills, spreading a warm and welcoming glow over Kohana, like a fire on winters brisk evening. Despite the beauty of this display, it had woken up Shikadai rather early, so he had been awakened abruptly, putting him in a foul mood. If he were Inojin, he would make it clear he was grumpy and make a few snide comments, but frankly, (and as per usual) he couldn't really be bothered to lift a single finger.

The trio were sat around a table quietly in the main room of Ino and Sai's house. Due to Shikamaru's busy schedule, Temari, although not extremely close to Ino, had dropped her son off instead of the usual father's job. Chōchō had bounced her way their by herself, after a perfect training breakfast provided by her kind and loving father. Shikadai was staring out of the pretty little windows, his head full of ann oyance; Inojin was mesmerising some art techniques his father had secretly passed down to him, and Chōchō- well, you can imagine what was going on in her food induced mind.

After several consecutive moments like this, Ino eventually made an appearance, her newly cut platinum hair tied back as it always was for training, with her large bangs covering most of half of her pale face. Her sons similar hair was also neatly put back, showing obvious similarities between the too.

"Alright kids, let's get moving!" she aroused them with a shout. "Last week was terrible, I'm not going to lie! No food - Chō-chan, don't look at me like that ho- until you've done the usual regime with no breaks!"

"Woman, are you serious..." groaned Shikadai, dropping his head into his hand cradle.

"Excuse me?! That is _not _how you speak to someone who is elder!" she screeched, appalled. "Apologise immediately!"

"Uhh mother, let's just go, we'll waste training time!" Inojin mumbled a little awkwardly.

Ino rolled her eyes and turned away, just as Shikadai pulled a rude face at her. The trio trooped after the leading lady, seemingly 'ready' for another training day.

* * *

Hinata didn't mention her 'secret' conversation with Sakura to Bolt the next day, which itched her curiosity even more, for it was already inflamed by the whole concept! Bolt hated to be left out of anything, despite the issue, and felt unwanted whenever this happened. With his father being the Hokage and all; this happened more often than not. With a pout, he decided to leave the house for some fresh air, which his mother didn't challenge, as she had her hands decidedly full with a grubby and grumbling Himawari in her arms.

Today he did not have a mission due to the overnight one the day before. A few weeks ago, he would have met up with his cheeky mates and ransack the villiage, but now he felt like he had matured a little from the last 'incident', plus, his friends were kind of distant now that they were separated due to their new teams.

Instead, he found a few shiny coins in his frogs purse (according to his father, it held many memories) and strolled off to the ramen bar, as he couldn't think of anything else to do. He quickly slid into the shop as he had many times before, and was about to cheerily yell an order when he saw a strong looking, pink haired woman, next to...

"Dad?" Bolt called out in confusion "What are you doing out here?

Naruto raised his hands in defeat.

"Busted!" Sakura laughed, a hand over he mouth. "Come sit with us Bolt."

Clearly confused, Bolt trailed over to the seat beside his father, and plonked himself down on it. His father turned to him with a weary expression.

"I'm on lunch break," he explained with an elbow nudge. "Plus, I needed a chat with Sakura."

"Eh, whatever," Bolt shrugged, tucking into the steamy bowl of ramen that was already out for him.

""Hey Bolt," came Sakura's voice. "You haven't seen Sarada anywhere, have you?"

Both Naruto and Bolt turned to Sakura with questioning expressions, though ramen was stuffed into their mouths.

"She left out 'for a walk' this morning," Sakura mentioned, a little anxiety edged into her voice. "She hasn't come back though. We had a lovely meal out yesterday..."

"Maybe she's-" Naruto began, but Bolt interrupted instantly.

"Sarada is really strange, I bet she's being weird like usual...somewhere..."

Sakura sighed and pusher her bowl forward with the payment on the side, before shaking her head at Bolt, who was racking his brains about where Sarada could be. Nothing sprang to mind; she was always mysterious in her whereabouts.

"I'll give you a shout if I see her from the office, but that girl is very sensible, I'm sure she'll be fine." Naruto replied, consolingly.

"Thank you," smiled Sakura in return, and sharply turned on her heel back outside. She couldn't spend all her time on her daughter, as much as she wanted to, as she had to manage the hospital. Today there was lots of patients waiting due to an unfortunate epidemic that was infecting babies.

Naruto cleared his throat briskly, before turning to his son who was still deep in thought.

"Bolt, do me a favour and go look for Sarada?" he asked, scratching his head. "I know that you're not the best of friends; which is understandable, but it would be a great help."

"Huh? I'm on it dad, no problem!" he replied perkily, and rushed out of the shop like a gale of wind, leaving Naruto to blink in surprise.

Bolt had never been so eager to do a favour before...

* * *

"Line up!" Ordered Ino, pushing a dull faced Shikadai forward into the small line. "The first half of your training was, Eh, so so. Show me more now!"

Chōji was also there to assist on Ino's request, and even Temari had dropped by due to Shikamaru's absence, despite only roughly knowing the basics of the Ino-Shika-Chō technique. The strongly built woman was leant against her fan, arms crossed and eyes squinted at the three children.

"Alright, let's start with the formation," Ino decided, sticking her finger out. "Since Temari isn't a user of any of your jutsu, she will be your target for today."

Temari gave Ino a brief nod and pushed her fan aside. She glared at the trio, who instantly changed their posture more upright, especially Shikadai for that matter. Ino was scary, but his mother was on a different level, completely. Ino backed away next to Chōji, a scrutinising expression on her pale face.

"Come at me, no holding back!" She demanded, a steely expression on her face. "I want to see how well you've been taught, and how much you've been practicing as a team!"

Temari spouted a few for orders to the children, who all nodded and whispered to each other when ever she paused to breath. Chōji turned to Ino, who was biting her lip. Temari had never trained the trio before, it was usually Shikamaru who did this segment, and his approach was calm and collected, yet fair and firm. His wife on the other hand, was strict and had a no nonsense attitude towards the training, which made Ino feel a little tense. She was also strict, but in a different way as the children never seemed to be as dedicated when training with her. Chōji rarely did the group trying as he was easy to manipulate and too much fun, in her own words.

Shikadai pushed his hand to his head, grumbling to himself. He would actually have to put in some effort today to impress his mother. Or there would be trouble when he got home...

The trio line up, a few meters away, ready for battle. Temari taunted them and called for attack. She went straight forward with a pair of knives, which they all avoided swiftly.

"That's baby work," muttered Inojin, speeding up towards her. "Shikadai, shadows now!"

"Right!" called Shikadai, leaping into position, with his hands slipping into the well known position easily.

Black patches of shadow spread across the scruffy ground, meandering like a flowing river towards Temari, who smirked at his efforts, however, dodged it. Shikadai had never fought his mother, but he knew his father had fought her several times, and therefore expected her to easily avoid his shadows.

As he dodged a wind jutsu to his left, a large brown arm flew past him, making its way from Chōchō's shoulder to Temari's ankle in quick time.

"Partial Expa-" Chōchō's cheer was cut short by Temari's unprecedented dodge, entwined with an able kick to Chōchō's side, forcing her to cut off the Justu and return her arm to regular size. Shikadai's eyes quirked up as he noticed that Temari was under able to his shadows if she was in then air, as she had no defence when landing.

"Chōchō! I have an idea!" He yelled urgently with a glance. "Repeat what you just did!"

"Don't be ridiculous!" glared Inojin. "You saw what just happened, she couldn't land a blow!"

"I have a plan, trust me," he said, his steely eyes reminding Chōchō of the stren yet reliable source of his mother. She nodded after thought. His father was an exellent strategist and was renowned for this.

"Alright! When I say, do the mind transfer jutsu, okay?"

"Fine! But this better work!"

Chōchō expanded her other arm and made an aim for Temari's stomach. The lady rolled her eyes as she dodged yet again, gracefully. She landed triumphantly.

"I'm going easy on you, but you should know the same thing will do no harm to me," she smirked. "I'm going for a full-"

Temari couldn't move her feet from the ground; she was caught in Shikadai's jutsu! Inojin didn't even have to be called, he instantly jumped in front of his crouching teammates and used his mind transfer justu successfully, thanking himself he didn't mess up in from of his mother.

Chōchō again struck her from the side, before Ino quickly stepped in to stop the deep battle, with a surprised and rather joyful look.

"Alright, release the genjutsu...that was..." Ino was slightly taken aback. Never before had they trained together so perfectly, so in sync. She wondered to herself if it was the motivation to out smart Temari that drove them.

Chōji lumbered over to Chōchō, a large beam on his round face. Chōchō's bunches were a bit loose, and there was an unsightly rip in her clothes, but for once she didn't complain out of the happiness her father's praise gave her.

Ino patted Inojins back (quite hard) and heartily congratulated him on finally perfecting his jutsu, in which he responded with a small blush and sigh.

Ino was so impressed, she let them off for the rest of the day, much to Shikadai's relief. He was about to trail back home for a nice nap when he felt his mother's warm hand of his shoulder.

"You did well today!" she praised him, moving over to collect her fan. "But you can do better. Much better. You know your advanced, show it please in your attitude, nor juts your combat skill."

Shikadai rolled his eyes.

"Ah boy..." He groaned. "What a drag..."

* * *

**So happy with how this chapter turned out! You'll have to wait to find out what Sarada is doing Hehehee. I love the new generation of InoShikaChō! I'd have to say my fave is Shikadai purely because of ShikaTema 3**

**watch this space, new chapter soonish?**


	17. Chapter 17 - Bolt's 'Illness'

**Just to let you know I'm back from France (which I don't think I told you guys anyways xD) back with my super fast wifi and lots of time this week to write and upload. I am going away every weekend in August so please bear with me when it comes to writing, as unlike some people I don't write in ****advance, just because I prefer to write when the inspiration hits.**

***(i apologise for the lack of accents on some of the words - I had to use my old laptop which doesn't support those characters, as can't use my regular one at the moment, but I'll edit on Sunday. Sorry! :3)**

* * *

_Huh, that stupid Boruto, _thought Sarada, _he's such a joke..._

Scattered flecks of bright red, mulled green and brilliant white could be spotted from the short distance Sarada was from the grand Hokage monument, glimmering slightly in the dappled sunlight. They were remains that the maintainers had failed to remove after Bolts literal paint fuelled attack. She had never been so high up from the ground before, and now she was elevated up from the village from that great height. The clouds were hovering above her head, milky white and as light as a feather. Sarada saw the usual bustling streets below her, the Hokage building to her right, and even her own home in the mix.

She had left for a walk in the morning with not much word to her mother, and hadn't returned for the entire day. Unfortunately, she had no way to measure the time on her, so she didn't realise in fact how late it was. Of course she could tell she'd been out a while, due to the slightly setting sun, but she didn't really care enough to move. No one could bother her from where she was, which was perfect for her mood was diminished, contemplantent and a little wistful.

The reason she had gone out, was simply to clear her mind of just a few things she couldn't mull over fully at home. She loved her mother dearly of course, but she didn't feel like she could tell her mother everything - just like her mother refused to tell her some things! That; she didn't understand - but she knew better not to make a fuss about it. Her intent for this time alone was to mostly make plans. She knew that the last time she had seen her father had been when she was much younger - she could picture his dark figure briefly, and his mother had a couple of photographs dotted around the house. But when she saw Chocho with her father, and especially Bolt with the Hokage, it made her feel a pang of longing and envy. Not that she had anything against them; she just longed to see her father too.

Sarada signed as she perched on the edge of a lone rock. She had told herself that no matter what other people told her - even the Hokage; she couldn't give up of her goal to searching for and bringing home her father. Bolt had made that promise - but she realised just how naive he was, as he had had the perfect childhood. Perfect, powerful mother, in love with his super strong Hokage hero father, with an adorable sister who was bound to possess her mother's visual power. Although she hated to admit it, she knew that she was jealous of him and took this out by ignoring him or taunting him. She had never really felt bad about it before, well, with Bolt having such a busy life, would he even take notice of her petty jabs?

Sighing, she was about to conclude her plans that she had drafted out in the back of her mind, when she heard the certain pound of gradually louder footsteps rushing behind her.

"Hey!" a familiar, cheery voice called. "I knew I'd find you here!"

"No you didn't," retorted Sarada with a dry tone. "It was a fluke; you'd know that I haven't been all the way up here before."

"Whatever," Bolt brushed her remark of as if it were dust of his shoulder. "That was a pretty tough climb!"

"Or maybe you're just weak?" she questioned, sarcastically.

"Hey, why are you being so cold all of a sudden?" he asked her, anxiety slipping into his voice. "Is something wrong?"

"What do you mean?" she replied, a little taken aback. _Wasn't she always like this to him? _

"Uh, well, you're usually just as smart-mouthed, but a little...warmer?" he suggested, drawing closer to her.

"Warm? Great vocabulary..."

"Thanks!" Bolt beamed, joking as well. "I do try to be smart, but I'm nothing compared to you, Sarada."

Sarada could feel a little warmth in her cheeks as he complimented her, though she wished it away at all costs. Unluckily, Bolt spotted her blush, and she instantly felt her body tighten as she was prepared to be teased.

"Told you you're usually warm!" he laughed, Sarada feeling a little more at ease with his jokey manner. "Seriously though..."

"Well, it's not really that important to you-"

"I wanna find Uncle Sasuke too, ya know, so stop acting like he doesn't mean anything to me!" she yelled adamantly. "There are a lot of people who care about Sasuke, not just you and Sakura!"

Sarada blinked at his sudden outburst. _How did he know what she was thinking?_

"It's kinda obvious actually," he shrugged, sitting down beside her. "All you think about is Sasuke, finding him and meeting him properly is your motivation, your drive. It's obvious to anyone who knows you and spends enough time around you that he means the world to you."

"That's a little creepy to be honest," she replied harshly. "Are you obsessed with me or something?"

"Obsessed? Yeah right! You'd have to be pretty_ big headed_ to believe something _stupid_ like _that_!" he retaliated, springing up in instant reaction.

Bolt's face looked so defensive and frankly, a little funny, that Sarada couldn't help but laugh at him. But she realised, it wasn't malicious at all, which made her feel rather torn, out of slightly denting her undying rivalry with him. However, she guessed that she didn't have to be too caught up on rivalry. Bolt seemed to mutually agree - after all, their fathers' were rivals, but also apparent best friends too. Not that either of them wanted to be best friends, _of course_.

"You graduated the academy with flying colours, now lucky you, are on a team with Konahameru, hehe, with me!" he recounted to Sarada. "You've gotten closer to finding Sasuke. If we can work hard enough in our genin teams, who knows how quickly you can become a chunin! And be even stronger!"

Sarada listened to Bolt, listened with an open mind. Maybe he wasn't that stupid after all...

"...or Sasuke might just turn up outta the blue and all this motivation from him would be worthless, 'cos he'd end up coming back anyways!" he finished, changing Sarada's view yet again.

"You can talk well, and you can talk absolute crap." she told him, making him roll his eyes. "Make up your mind - I can't trust you!"

"If that's how you feel," shrugged Bolt, with his no-care attitude. "So be it!"

An amber glow had spread above the skyline, setting their village in a stunning orange ombre, taking both of their breaths away in an instant. Dim street lights shone from the streets below, and children could be seen dashing around the early evening's streets.

"Uh, Bolt..." began Sarada, her voice quiet, and her mind totally relaxed.

"Yeah...?" he responded, his bright eyes still fixed on the sky. As Sarada went over in her mind what she'd say, Bolt stole a quick glance at the black haired girl, and looked away in panic that she'd notice the admiration in his eyes.

"Why did you come here? How did you find me?" she let her curiosity burst, and Bolt instantly replied.

"Your mother was worried about you," he stated, as it was obvious. "My dad _forced_ me to find you, so I did."

"I get it, but how? I mean, I was quite high up, there's no way you could have seen me."

Bolt shrugged his shoulders with a sigh. "I just had a feeling you'd be up here, that's all."

"Honestly?"

"Honest?"

"Hmph," Sarada grunted, turning away from the view. "I still don't believe you, and I don't trust you still. But..."

"But?" Bolt put in, his spirit slightly dampened by her narrowed, steely words, and a strange, light feeling in his chest, though he didn't understand why.

With a ghost of a smile, and her dark eyes perking up from behind her glasses, she told him;

"But...you're not that bad..."

_Huh, that stupid Bolt, _Sarda thought, _I guess I got him...wrong._

* * *

"Thanks Bolt!" greeted his father, ruffling his son's blonde hair with his hand. "Sakura is very grateful for you finding Sarada; she was so worried about her."

"Eh, it wasn't really a problem to be honest..." he replied quietly, shrugging his shoulders."Sarada would have gone home anyways."

"Yes, but you were kind enough to help," smiled his mother, sitting beside him. "I'm proud you did that!"

"Geez, it's not a big deal!" Bolt protested against his parents praises. "Stop acting like-"

"But Boruto, it strikes me that you wouldn't have bothered to have done that a few months ago!" exclaimed his father with a wink.

"Especially not for Sarada..." added Hinata, her hand going to her mouth in a slight giggle.

"But she's a friend!"

"So you're not rivals anymore?" asked Naruto, curiously, causing Bolt to roll is eyes and pull a face.

"Of course we're rivals! BITTER RIVALS!" he shouted at the top of his voice, causing silence to spread throughout the house like a tidal wave. Except...

"Boooolllllttt..." his father groaned, leaping up. "You woke up Himawari!"

"Oops, say sorry to Himmie for me when you go up!" Bolt grinned, causing his father to moan with annoyance as he followed the sound of his young daughter's cries. "Mum, isn't Himmie too old for crying like that?"

"You're pretty loud though, sweetie," Hinata told him truthfully, a radiant smile of her pale face. "I'm sure you'd scare most young children with a yell like that."

Bolt muttered something about young children and having the freedom to speak for himself, when he suddenly realised how tired he actually was. The climb up to the monument had taken quite a lot of energy, never mind the struggle to keep up with Sarada as she ran back down with her speed. Bolt knew he could have caught up, but to be honest, he had felt a little out of his depth. In fact, his face was flushed a hot pink, and he had this strange feeling in his chest and stomach. He sat up quickly - what if he had a disease, or was coming down with an illness? He definitely felt like he had a bit of a fever.

"Mum, I don't feel very well..." he mumbled, as his mother turned towards him.

"Oh dear - you do look a little flushed!" she exclaimed, and put her cold hand to his forehead. "I think you may just have a fever. Does anywhere else feel hot or hurt?"

"Well, I think I'm having symptoms for something," he explained, pointing to his head first. "My head has been feeling hot and airy recently, and every so often, when I speak, I get this tight feeling in my chest and I start breathing like I do after some intense training!"

His mother nodded as she listened.

"Sometimes I get a fluttery feeling here," he carried on, pointing to his belly. "But the only place that kind of hurts...is here. It beats really fast sometimes!"

Hinata then realised he was pointing to his heart. Tight chest, fluttering stomach, short breaths, _flushed face..._

"Do these feelings flair up after talking to...perhaps someone in particular?" she asked, a little amused with a secret smile to herself.

"Talking? Let me think..." Bolt thought hard in his memory, having flash backs to the times in particular he had felt all the symptoms. "Hmmmm, well I guess..."

There was no way Sarada had anything to do with his illness. Maybe she had just passed it on to him or something? He couldn't remember her ever being ill though. He brushed it off without much thought, though she often popped into his mind when he felt like that. What a _coincidence_!

"...nope. No one comes to mind."

Hinata watched her son carefully as she asked a few questions, but she was assured that it wasn't a physical illness, which relieved her a little bit. However, she knew this disease well, as she had suffered it too, all the way from her academy days until many, though worthwhile, years later. She could feel herself turning crimson just thinking about it...but to think her own son had the condition as well, though it was just early days - and he was utterly clueless.

"Mum? Why are you laughing?" he asked, frustrated. "It's not funny to laugh at an illness!"

"I know what you're suffering, Bolt! I suffered it for a long time when I was your age..." she mused.

"A _long_ time?"

"What you have won't really go away after time, though it may fade a little. You can't treat it with medicine, and only one person can truly cure it," she explained wisely, as Bolt looked at her with admiration for his beautiful and wise mother (though he had no clue what she was talking about).

"Only one person? Who is that person?" he pestered her desperately.

"Oh, but don't you already know, Bolt?" his mother teased with a soft smile. "Your heart knows..."

* * *

**Guys you have no idea how much fun that was to write! I did this in a couple of hours, but it honestly felt like ten minutes.**

**Yes for Bolt x Sarada! Looks like Bolt's condition isn't going anywhere...well, at least in my story ^-^**

**Please remember to follow, fave and review so I know you guys are enjoying this! Thank you!**


	18. Chapter 18 - Shikadai's Birthday

**So if Gaara or Kankurō don't have children...would that make Shikadai next in line to be Kazekage? I've heard rumours that Suna wouldn't like it...why not? Shikadai is badass.**

**I have no idea when Shikadai's birthday is...but let's say it's directly in the middle of Shikamaru's and Temari's birthdays, which would be the 7th of September. With Temari's being 23rd August and Shikamaru's is 22nd September! But then like, the new year's chapter wasn't so long ago...Okay whatever. I'm not including dates.**

**Just an insight, the next three chapters will be revolving around Shika, Chōchō and Inojin (taking a break from Sarada and Bolt, sorry)**

**And who the heck is this Orochimaru kid in their team? I made mine up on the spot, so sorry, that blue guy won't be included... xD**

**Enjoy the chapter (^o^)**

* * *

"Shika!"

"Shikadai, wake up, it's late!"

"Shikadai!"

_Mmm, just five more minutes_, murmured Shikadai to himself, tangled in the covers like ivy up a wall. The warmth of his bed always made him late, but it was far more welcome then his scary mother's morning orders or his father's lazy complaining. Well, not like he could talk. The sun had already risen high in the sky as the previous events of the night before flooded into his mind. In the other rooms, he could hear the chatters of four voices rather than two, which only meant...

"Oh crap...my uncles are here!"

'Lord high and sandy Kazekage' had come the day before, after a few days trek from his village to Konoha with his older brother, Kankurō, the creepy, purple face painted puppet master, who in all honestly, Shikadai got on well with because of his laid back attitude compared to Gaara's uptight appearance. Why had they come again? Shikadai recalled this as he slumped out of bed due to his mothers nagging voice from the hallway. Oh yeah, it was his birthday.

Family birthdays were the worst for Shikadai, it meant he had to stay at home all day, whilst his parents (mostly his mother, although his father did enjoy speaking sometimes) spent every second talking to her brothers, relatives of Shikamaru, and when it came to usually Shikamaru or Shikadai's birthdays, the two generations of Ino-Shika-Chō would usually visit with traditional gifts and greetings. Which were, too be honest, a drag. Unlike most children his age, Shikadai didn't really enjoy being fussed, or gifts showered on him. He was more practical and logical, and considered these testimonials a waste of time. His father had often told him before that when he was younger, he had the same outlook on things, but when he finally established a family of his own, he realised how important it was.

One final yell from his mother led to Shikadai hastily jumping out of his room with a sigh, shutting the sliding door with an irritating bang, which hence caused his father to tut in annoyance. His ebony hair wasn't brushed or tied back out of his laziness, and hung in tangles down his shoulders. He received a red raised eyebrow from Gaara as he entered the main room, but shrugged it off with a grin.

"Ugh, Shikadai, you could have at least _tried_ to look nice for today," his mother complained, fussing about him with a brush and hair tie.

His father was deep in a cheery conversation with Kankurō, whilst Gaara was sternly sipping tea while kneeling at a table.

"Yeah, happy birthday to me too..." he mumbled under his breath and rolled his eyes. "Geez..."

"There! All done!" Temari beamed, flicking a stray hair out of her face. Green eyes stared at green as Temari clasped her hands together. "You look very handsome, just like your father; I wouldn't be surprised if Chōchō falls head over heels. Just like Ino for you, Shika!" Temari joked with a motherly laugh.

"Yes, totally," Shikamaru responded, rolling his eyes, ironically thinking of Sasuke. "Pretty boy Shikadai will get all the girls..."

"Dad that's total crap and you know it," argued Shikadai in embarrassment. "I'm not _pretty..._"

Kankurō sniggered as Temari sat back down next to Gaara, who turned to Shikadai with a scrutinising glance.

"How old are you now, Shikadai?" he asked, with a plain expression.

"Uhhh, 12 now. I think." he replied, not really interested in what his senior had to say.

"You think?" smirked Kankurō. "Great answer for someone with such potential power..."

"Oh, Shika-honey, look at the time, you best be off to work soon...do you want to give Shika his present now?" Temari quickly put in, to avoid potential conflicts.

"Sorry 'bout this son, but work is work, but I'll still see you tonight," his father apologised, grabbing a box from on top of a cupboard. "Hope you like these..."

Shikadai accepted the box with gratefulness, like his mannered mother had taught him, and prised off the lid quickly with his hands. Inside of a velvet smooth cover, were two strange blade type weapons, that he recognised as his father's chakra blades, or something similar. He quirked his eyebrow at his father, who seemed to be having some sort of flash back. When he was very young, he remembered that Shikamaru and his younger uncle used to spar a lot whilst his mother watched and judged on the sidelines, with him in her arms. He had seen these shiny blades being used several times, and it had appeared that his father was passing them on to him.

"Thanks..." he said, slipping his fingers into the slots, which were far to big. "But..."

"My sensei entrusted these to me," he explained, slipping one on. "You won't be able to use them yet, but when the time comes, you ay use these. For now, keep them safe and do not lose them, they are very special to me, and will be a new tradition for this clan."

"Cool," responded Shikadai, putting them back neatly in the box and shoving it back in a draw.

"Now, may you escort me to the office?" asked Gaara politely to Shikamaru. "I would like to use this rather rare opportunity to visit Lord Hokage."

"Of course," smiled Shikamaru. "Lord Kazekage will return with me later. Enjoy your day, Shika."

Shikadai and Kankurō waved as the duo left, whilst Temari started to put the dishes a way efficiently. Once she was done tidying, she instructed her son to hand out his generation of Ino-Shika-Chō, as it was apparent that the previous generation would be visiting later in the day, and Temari wanted to prepare for their welcoming. To this, Shikadai didn't refuse; this meant a few good hours to himself, if he could avoid gossipy Chōchō and advanced Inojin. He liked them both, but they could definitely get on his nerves sometimes. He pulled on his jacket quickly, before sliding out of the house with a relieved sigh.

* * *

The clouds were prominent that day, though the atmosphere didn't feel stormy or wet. Just pretty white clumps of cloud dotted the pale blue sky above him, easing him into the easy streets outside his house. He stepped lightly onto the street, a carefree look on his face as he started to shift in direction towards his favourite spot to watch the clouds. Shikamaru had shown him the spot many years ago, when he was just a baby, and he used to sit with his son in his arms and they'd both stare at the sky. So he had always felt an emotional connection to the sky, although he always preferred a little breeze flowing in the background, for some reason.

He had almost reached the spot when he heard giggles and hushing from the spot above, and immediately made Shikadai tense and more over, suspicious of his surroundings. Silently, he took a step forward, quirking his ears to hear any more whispers, not hearing much. Shrugging, he continued walking, before hearing a high pitched cheer and a sudden black out around him. Someone had leaped on him and forced a blind fold around his face, and had stunned him with a high pitched squeal and a minuscule mind transfer which didn't last long at all, but was enough for Shikadai to be very confused and slightly off balance. There was a babble of arguing, and a large fist was pulling him upwards. Shikadai struggled in the harsh grip, angrily writhing in the black space he was in.

"Uck! Stay still!" yelled a strong female voice as the grip tightened around his waist.

"Shut up! He can recognise our voices, dummy!" a familiar males voice called in a harsh whisper. "Come on! Not much longer now!"

"Uhhhhhhhh!"

Suddenly, the blindfold was taken off; Shikadai's eyes blinded slightly by the harsh light. Everything was a bit blurry until he realised where he was. He was in his favourite spot, overlooking the sky, he was lying on the wooden bench. Two figures were in the corner of each of his eyes, and they were both grinning and holding large boxes.

"Haaaappy Birthdaaaay!" yelled Chōchō, her shiny white teeth fixed into a joyful smile. "Yo Shikadai? You even listening?"

"What the hell Chōchō..." Shikadai groaned, irritated. "Why'd you do that?"

"Birthday surprise." stated Inojin, rolling his eyes a little. "Duh..."

"Ugh...what a drag! Are you serious? Such a fuss!"

"Hey, be grateful, lazy!" screeched Chōchō, pushing her box into his arm. It was wrapped with neon pink paper with sparkling yellow stars that glared up at Shikadai's still sore eyes, tied with a huge silver ribbon. "This is from me!"

"Uhhh...thanks?" he replied, tugging at the edge of the ribbon tentatively. "Why is it so big..."

"Open it, open it, OPEN IT!" yelled Chōchō, getting impatient as Inojin crossed his arms and smirked in the background.

After a bit of tugging, ripping and yells from the funky brunette, Shikadai finally lifted off the lid and rolled his eyes as it was pretty typical.

Inside the box, were three fat packets of Chōchō's all time favourite potato chips/crisps...

"Wow..." he mumbled, sighing in exasperation. "Thanks a lot, but you can keep 'em."

"No way!" Chōchō refused, outraged, whilst Inojin sniggered in the background. "I saved them for weeks just for you!"

"No you didn't!" argued Inojin, laughing a little. "You have hundreds of packs at home - and those are just for you, never mind your dad..."

"Oi, don't be mean!" glared Chōchō, flushing a little in her cheeks. "And I'm proud! Shikadai should appreciate it!"

Shikadai watched silently as the two started to bicker, sighing, and wishing he was somewhere else with no one around. Like he had _planned_.

"...anyway. Time for my present!" Inojin cleared his throat, barging in front of Chōchō, who was writhing in frustration, muttering about how people shouldn't take her for granted like that.

Shikadai put the box to one side, his jade eyes turning weary with the constant movement in front of him. As Inojin started blabbing about how he had got hold of his present, Chōchō whispered to him with a worried look.

'_did you mean it when you said I could have them back?' _she mouthed.

Shikadai nodded discreetly with not much effort as Inojin thrust his present into the spiky haired boy. This one was plain brown with string around it, and a lot smaller. It contained a few useful ninja tools, with the instinct logo from Ten Ten's shop in town. This looked a lot more worthwhile.

"Thanks!" he accepted them gratefully, grinning at his paler friend. "Guys, you didn't really have to make such a drama though...It was kinda a pain!"

"Whatever! Look at the time, let's go to yours Shikadai!"

"Ugh..."

* * *

One thing led to another, and the Nara's household had turned into a family/friend meet up, with many people stuffed in the main room. Shikadai hadn't seen a scene quite like it, with all his family and friends stuffed into one place at the same time. It was very busy, with people chatting to one another with elated smiles, all apparently there to celebrate his birthday. Not that he said much himself, he just kind of stood there whilst his mother smiled and people prodded him, all familiar people, of course, but it was all a bit too much. Gaara seemed a bit out of place too, as the noisy two generations of Shika-Ino-Chō mucked around with there children, as their respective spouses chatted amongst each other, with Kankurō in the mix too, beaming with his purple face paint.

Respective people gave him different presents; Shikadai meekly opened them and was grateful under the beady watch of his mother's eye, cringing the whole time as he so did not want to be there. Even Naruto had paid a visit when Shikamaru had returned with Gaara, looking content with his meeting with Gaara. The hokage had tussled his hair and told him,

'_you're gonna be a great man, just like your father. Maybe one day, you'll even take my job!_'

and whispered secretly,

_'or, even Gaara's_'

Before walking away with a wink.

Shikadai could never imagine himself as the hokage. He couldn't even imagine himself in his father's position. He even wondered why his father had that job in the first place...

The day dragged on, with everyone eventually singing happy birthday to the black haired Nara, before leaving in high spirits. Chōchō had already gotten through two and a half of the chip bags, Inojin and Sai had painted a pretty banner and had hung it up in the house as a gift from both Sai and Ino, Shikamaru had made arrangements for a rematch with Kankurō (Shikamaru had one last time) and Chōji had eaten the majority of the food Temari had made with no regrets, though his wife wasn't too pleased.

Shikadai was about to trail back to bed in his weariness, when his mother called him back into the other room. She and Shikamaru were sat scarily close together, talking quietly amongst themselves, in order to not wake up her now sleeping brothers in the next room. Shikadai silently observed his parents as he edged closer; Temari's mouth must have been sore from smiling all day, but she was looking at Shikamaru affectionally, as he rubbed his head and rolled his eyes.

"Did you have a nice day, Shika honey?" Temari asked, as her husbands hand wrapped around hers.

"Yeah, it was okay," He replied with a yawn, sitting down opposite them.

"You're gonna be tied tomorrow," Shikamaru remarked at his wife. "Pretending you're a perfect smiley house wife all day? Geez, I think I would have waited from exhaustion..."

Temari proceeded to take the hand in which his fingers were intertwined with and bent it backwards, glaring at him with dagger eyes as Shikamaru winced in pain and cried out in surprise. He tried to tug back, but knew that he could never win an argument with his wife, so instead begged for mercy, mercy that Temari refused! Instead, he called out his son's name. Shikadai rolled his eyes and awkwardly stumbled towards the scene, batting his mothers arm away half heartedly. Temari took her other hand and began tickling her son, who yelped out similarly to his father. Seeing this as an opening, Shikamaru used his free hand to loosen her grip and began to tickle her, causing her to yell at him and tickle back. Eventually they were all over each other, attacking each other, amidst startled cries and laughter.

The scene came to a halt when Gaara entered the room, an angry look on his suddenly solemn face. That was enough to silence the trio, before he shot Shikadai a glare, and left the room. As soon as he had gone out of sight, they started laughing, with a mix of 'you're an idiot', 'my arms hurt' and 'I love you both', though it wasn't clear who said what.

Shikadai wriggled from his mother's grip and slid away from his parents, who were still laughing a little. He tried to leave the room with no one noticing, but he heard his father call goodnight, though he sounded, kind of squished. Shikadai rolled his eyes and trailed to his room, flopping instantly onto the bed, and falling asleep in a matter of minutes.

* * *

**This took me several days to write, it's been a bit on and off, but quite a long chapter, I'd say.**

**Hope you enjoyed! xx**

**-omg just looking now, the word count is a couple hundreds off 3,000 words?! Guess it shows how much I love the Nara family, AND MY BABY SHIKA :3333**


	19. Chapter 19 - Inojin is Inky

**I finally got to watch The Last, last night, and I really loved it! They only Naruto ship I ship is indeed NaruHina but I've never thought it to be so interesting before, but the movie really added some depth to their relationship. The only disappointment for me was that there was not enough Shikamaru D: but me being a huge Shika-fan, I guess there's never enough xD I loved the wedding photo at the end with everyone in! I loved the emerging couple photo's too! *cough* SHIKATEMA *cough***

**Also, did you notice Gaara on the end by those too? I thought it was really funny the way he was standing by them all protective or something. You know what I mean xD**

* * *

_this fanfic might as well be called 'ShikaTema and Bolt being himself'_

* * *

Inojin took great pride in his appearance. Not that he boasted about it, but he liked to keep himself in good order and organised as he did with pretty much everything in life. Being the most motivated in the trio, he also felt the most responsible to keep everyone also in good order, even if that meant being pushy or outright rude, it didn't matter, he just had to due to his nature. Sometimes he wished his team mates were more like him, but then he wouldn't stand out as much, so therefore he just decided to deal with it most of the time.

He was intimidated by his mother, however unsurprisingly, he was always brutally honest and she often called him cheeky due to him inheriting his father's almost sarcastic, insensitive tone. Despite this, the family did get on well and his parents were good to him, even though they often left him on his own due to their responsibilities being some of the village's strongest ninja. Inojin did not mind this though, as he often felt that being alone allowed him to think more in his own peace and at his own pace. His smart, pushy beauty of a mother and insensitive, yet kind and powerful father had certainly created an independent child.

Shikadai's birthday had been only a few days ago, and the Ino-Shika-Chō families had gone back to their normal routine. Ino was busy in the sensory core, and his father on a three night mission with a squad, and there was no school that day, so Ino trusted that her son could be alone for most of the day. Inojin had already spent most of the day inside, not doing much in particular. He had had a lie in, and after several long minutes staring at the ceiling, he got up, pulled his body inside his regular clothes, and made himself a quick snack before heading to the table and doing one of his favourite things to pass the time; drawing.

He usually used his own ink that he'd buy from his own small allowance, but he had just run out the other day, and the shop that provided those sorts of things was being repaired for a water leak in the back, plus he was broke. His next allowance was due in a week, which wasn't quick enough for him. Bored, he decided that he could probably get away with using some of his fathers ink. He knew that it was a special, expensive type for Sai's jutsu, and that he'd probably get shouted at by his mother for 'wasting' it, but he didn't really care. He tip toed over to the storage draw that he knew Sai kept his ink, brushes and scrolls, his special one for jutsu was on him at that time of course, and quickly found one of the several matte pots that were full of ink. Not knowing the difference between each of them (they all looked more or less the same), he grabbed a random one and placed it on the table where one of his own scrolls of paper and a couple of brushes were already placed.

Feeling a little accomplished with himself for his unprecedented sneakiness, Inojin mapped out a design in his mind. He usually just doodled what he saw outside, like trees, houses or his own window. Sometimes he'd be more abstract, painting what he saw in his dreams, or sometimes he just inked out various kanji and characters he liked, like the one for the leaf village, or for 'mind' and other ones that he felt weirdly connected to. Today, he was using his fathers ink, and he felt like doodling something to do with him. What did his father draw for his jutsu?

He pictured his father kneeling down, scroll on a rocky surface, using long black strokes across the paper as another ninja covered him. The finishing result was truly awesome to Inojin as he imagined, a majestic tiger pounced from the paper as Sai bought the inked paper to life. Inojin flashed back to the many times his father drew other animals, such as birds that soared in the skies, or dragons of the like, all beautiful and detailed. Inojin had no idea now much he admired his father, as he never really thought about feelings for anyone else however bad that sounded to other people.

Having reached a conclusion, he picked up the brush and began to brush strokes onto the paper, picturing his father's work in his head as he drew. His ink seemed to flow a bit nicer on the brush, and as he drew, he felt an odd sensation in what seemed like his chakra. Of course, Sai's ink just chakra to make the jutsu, but Inojin began to wonder if the ink was changing his art from a simple doodle to an actual jutsu. Brushing this sudden thought away, he continued until the scroll was covered in a black picture of a beautiful bird, different to Sai's birds slightly, as it was much more feathery and not as smooth and precise, but Inojin was pretty proud. Maybe his mother would be more proud over angry.

As it was almost dry, he started to roll the scroll up, but halfway through, he suddenly had an itching feeling in his fingertips. What if he could turn this into his father's jutsu, or at least something similar to that? The young boy was not usually curious, but he really wanted to find out if he was capable to do both his parents renowned jutsu. He knew for sure that being in the next generation of Ino-Shika-Chō meant he had to do his mother's mind jutsu, but his love for art was obvious and adamant in his personality. His father had always hinted at properly teaching him, and he had managed to do some stuff, but never anything so big or complex. He had tried to do it several times by himself, yet always seemed to mess up unfortunately.

Unlike his mother, he was not one to be impulsive, but something compelled him to at least try as he really liked this bird he had created. Sure, it was a bit smudged and not very tidy...well, it was no where near the style of his fathers, however to Inojin, it was close enough, if just a little crude. He pressed his fingers back on the slightly damp ink and tried to infuse his chakra into it. He winced, as he knew he was supposed to to it before he painted, but he had gotten carried away with the actual picture. Sighing, he was about to give up due to an anomalous lack of motivation, when the bird suddenly started pulsing a little from the page, as if it were a caterpillar emerging from it's chrysalis. Was it going to animate?

Inojin concentrated really hard on his chakra flow, and eventually just started willing for it to move and fly. Miraculously, it fluttered off the page, it's elegant yet mis-matching feathers glistening in the sunlight, making him gasp with surprise. It didn't last long though; Inojin just gazed at it for awhile, before it disintegrated with a loud poof, and a bit of cloudy smoke.

"That was so cool..." he mumbled to himself. Turning around, he looked into the mirror above the sink to see his expression proud, corners of his mouth upturned and his eyes shiny, an expression he rarely saw in himself. He didn't think this weird though, and rushed back to the scroll to see it once more. However, he then realised that it turning into a jutsu, meant it had disappeared into the aptmosphere, which was a great disappointment to the blonde, who badly wanted to impress his father, who although often enjoyed showing and teaching his son stuff on the ink techniques, often chuckled at his previous crude attempts, and so Inojin wanted to prove he was good at the art and had potential.

His mother would be home in a couple of hours due to an early ending work day, so he spent them tidying the room and whilst he was at it, the rest of the house as well as making himself a small lunch, thinking about how he was hardly ever hungry and really didn't eat much. Neither did his parents either, but that really was irrelevant to be frank. The ink was returned to the draw, and scroll rolled back up in Inojin's room, brushes washed and clean, with no trace of anything he had done.

Next time he had doing art with his father, he'd surely impress him!

* * *

**Sorry if this chapter seemed a little short! I finished it like this because it's late ~ but I wanted this chapter out today.**

**Inojin is so cute ~ he is literally me in school lol, but I eat more xD**

**Oh yeah, this is a bit of a reflection of myself. I love artttttttt! Doing it for my GCSE's! :D**

**(except i'm not as cool as sai...)**


End file.
